Be Soft and Also be Free

Don’t build a hard, solid self
full of fixed ideas and firm beliefs.

Be soft
so that you don’t create friction, or clash with the world
but accept and absorb your experience with ease.

Be soft
so that disappointments and insults don’t bruise you
but bounce harmlessly away after your softness has absorbed their force.

Be soft so
that thoughts and emotions can’t attach themselves to you and ideas don’t turn to rigid theories which can’t be contradicted and animosity never lingers long enough to form a grudge and pain passes away before turning to trauma.

Be soft
so that you can bend with the wind, without breaking
and become moist with the rain, without flooding.

Be soft
so that you can pass through the world without leaving damage
only the lightest of trails which will dissolve like a cloud
and become part of the air which everyone breathes.