"I can't believe it's Daoism!"

"How do I know that enjoying life is not a delusion? How do I know that in hating death we are not like people who got lost in early childhood and do not know the way home? How do I know that the dead do not regret their previous longing for life? One who dreams of drinking wine may in the morning weep; one who dreams of weeping may in the morning go out to hunt. During our dreams we do not know we are dreaming. We may even dream of interpreting a dream. Only in waking do we know it was a dream. Only after the great awakening will we realize that this is the great dream. And yet, fools think they are awake, presuming to know that they are rulers or herdsmen. It will probably be called preposterous, but after ten thousand generations there may be a great sage who will be able to explain it, a trivial interval equivalent to the passage from morning to night."--Zhuangzi

"Once Zhuang Zhou dreamed he was a butterfly, a fluttering butterfly. What fun he had, doing as he pleased! He did not know he was a Zhou. Suddenly he woke up and found himself to be Zhou. He did not know whether Zhou had dreamed he was a butterfly, or a butterfly had dreamed he was Zhou. Between Zhou and the butterfly there must be some distinction. This is what is meant by the transformation of things."

--I think this said basically everything I wanted to say....I want the answers to these questions...only, I don't want to wake up, because the dream is too good right now. Life is the great dream, and the great nightmare. I would like to sit and watch as my life run its course, but it pulls me in and I'm involved. Tell me, why must I be continuously confused throughout this dream of mine. Clarity is what I'm seeking, but I can't seem to find it. One would say that if something confuses you so, then get way from the stimulus, or you can figure it out. Alas, I can't figure it out, and I don't want to get away from the stimulus...so tell me? What do you want? What does life want? What do you want from me? If you state your wants, maybe I can meet them. However, people wouldn't do that, they're too afraid to. I'm too afraid to state what I want....afraid of others AND myself.

"What I love is the Way, which goes beyond skill. I deal with it through my spirit rather than looking at it with my eyes. My perceptions stops and my spirit runs its course. A good cook changes his knife once a year, because he cuts. An ordinary cook changes his knife every month, because he hacks. This knife of mine is nineteen years old, It has carved several thousand cows, yet its blade looks like it had just come from the grindstone. There are spaces in the joints, and the blade has no thickness. So when something with no thickness enters something with space, it has plenty of room to move about. This is why after nineteen years it seems fresh from the grindstone. However, when I come to something complicated, I inspect it closely to prepare myself. I keep my eyes on what I am doing and proceed deliberately, moving my knife imperceptibly. Then with a stroke it all comes apart like a clod of earth crumbling. I stand there, my knife in my hand, look all around, enjoying my success. Then I clean the knife and put it away.
Lerd Wenhui said, "Excellent! By listening to Cook Ding, I learned how to nurture life.""

--This is how life should be. Life should be Daoist, which means that it should be about perception and flow, not....getting what you want by force. Only, hahahahahaha, nvm....don't think about it too much <.< If life is like a blade, then you should try the best you can to preserve it, not by avoiding to cut from fear of ruining it, but by using the right techniques so that it lasts longer. Life doesn't have to be anything except for a thin line within a vast space. If something confuses you, stand back and observe it until you can find a way to approach it delicately but quickly and efficiently. If I can be successful with this, then I will be content with how I approach life. For now, I am still the under-experienced cook, not necessarily hacking away at food, but rather too afraid to cook from fear of bad results.