The Verse of Uni: Reality, Attention, and the Great Harmony
Journal Entry: Thursday, August 13, 2026
This is an expanded comment that I made to another reader of the article The Footprints in the Snow.
The Verse of Uni: Reality, Attention, and the Great Harmony
Our previous conversation about the centipede and the grasshopper opens up a profound paradox about human experience. The grasshopper’s analytical questioning paralyzed the centipede because it forced a deeply intuitive, unified physical process into a rigid, conceptual framework. In a way, that is exactly how we stumble through what we call “reality.”
We act under the superficial assumption that we all inhabit the same objective world. On a physical, baseline level, perhaps we do. But beneath that surface, the truth is far more radical: we are each locked inside our own unique, localized universe.
Our individual worlds are forged entirely by what we notice or don’t bother to notice, and by the highly specific sequence of encounters we have from one fleeting moment to the next. Because of this, everything in manifestation is infinitely unique. There are no duplicates in the universe; nothing ever happens twice, no matter how much our minds try to categorize events into recurring patterns.
This brings us to the profound role of human consciousness. If reality is a constantly shifting, infinitely unique flux, our power lies in our attention. The more deeply we pay attention to external circumstances, to events, and to the quiet landscape of our own thoughts, the more available we become. Attention transforms into a form of active willingness. It softens our defensive posture, allowing us to accept the changing nature of things without fear, trepidation, or the exhausting friction of resistance.
When we assume this stance of open, quiet curiosity, an amazing shift occurs: things simply seem to work out. We cease trying to willfully shape and intervene in outcomes we are too limited to fully comprehend anyway. Instead, we let life itself move through us.
Of course, “shit happens.” Disruption, decay, and sudden chaos are baked into the very dynamics of a changing universe. The centipede trips; the paper tears in the studio; the composition that looked perfect on Tuesday fails on Wednesday. But these aren’t errors in the system; they are part of its movement.
Underneath all the particulates of our daily lives, beneath the words we use to poorly translate our experiences, lies what I call the Great Harmony - the Tao, the unified undercurrent of existence. The universe is a single, unmanifest being exploring its own infinite nature through these countless unique expressions and the empire of beings that we are composed of. The Tao remains completely impartial, offering its sun and rain without playing favorites. Yet, it inherently favors those who align with it. When we step out of our own way, quiet our conceptual minds, and simply ride the flow of that deep, upstream intelligence, we find that the universe has an extraordinary way of carrying us along.
The Architecture of Flow: Systems, Constraints, and the Studio as Corral
In my studio practice, the relationship with the Great Harmony is not a passive waiting game. It demands a rigorous, predetermined discipline. I have often said that I devise structural systems that function like a corral for wild horses.
The raw, intuitive creative impulses that move through an artist are inherently unpredictable, wild, and chaotic. If I were to operate without boundaries - allowing just anything to happen at any time - the sheer magnitude of possibilities would become paralyzing. The mind gets lost, fracturing into a thousand conflicting directions.
True alignment with the Tao does not mean absolute lawlessness; it is found in the interplay between structure and spontaneity. By intentionally building a localized set of rules, strict limitations, and geometric systems, I construct the corral. I define the margins.
Once those physical and conceptual constraints are locked into place, my ego can step back. Within those specific boundaries, the creative flow is granted total sovereignty to unfold, shift, and explode exactly as it wishes. The system does not crush the wild impulse; it channels it. The discipline of the framework protects the purity of the intuition, ensuring that when the universal language speaks through the movement of the hand, it lands with absolute clarity on the support.
The Path of No Choices: Cascading Doorways of the Creative Act
Once the disciplined system is constructed - the corral that prevents the work from scattering in a thousand directionless ways - the nature of choice changes completely. Inside this framework, I follow a way of creating that I call “the path of no choices.”
To the outside observer, a blank surface presents an agonizing abyss of infinite possibilities. But for the artist operating in alignment with the underlying current, those infinite possibilities instantly collapse into a single, inevitable reality. Intuitively, the artist can see the exact next move that needs to happen. The discipline lies in doing only that, moving forward without a fraction of a second spent in hesitation, doubt, or second-guessing.
This is not a premeditated grand plan map; it is a live, sequential unfolding. Each move is an absolute commitment. You cannot see the third or fourth step from the beginning. Instead, executing the immediate, necessary action is what unlocks the next phase of the work. Each step opens the door to the next step that was, until that very moment, completely hidden from view.
Every mark made, every piece of paper placed, becomes the physical key to the next doorway. By walking this path of no choices, the ego is bypassed entirely. The artist does not impose a forced, external will upon the material. You simply bear witness to the work revealing itself to you, one doorway at a time, until the movement rests in the final expression of the Great Harmony.
How do you think about your creative process?
See what happened in NOTES
Take a Minute
Listen carefully to all of the sounds you are hearing at this moment. In a comment write what you observed.