chasing tails

"...we need to have a sense of personal satisfaction. Without this, we stagnate. The paradox within this issue is that of wanting to progress, to experience growth through tanglible results, but at the same time we want a life of ease and freedom. It's summed up in the problem of not wanting to do, yet wanting to have done...

In the natural world this paradox is addressed with ease. There is an instinctive understanding as to when to haul in and when to wander out and discover new territory. But in our human psyche, our self-consciousness, which gives us an awareness of our circumstances and the anticiapation, leads us to chase our tail round and round, mentally tying ourselves in knots. Leaping at our tails, we bite down - and wonder at the excruciating pain." (ref: Restall Orr)