{"id":113,"date":"2026-08-19T16:56:49","date_gmt":"2026-08-19T16:56:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ksfreeman.com\/musings\/?p=113"},"modified":"2026-08-19T16:56:49","modified_gmt":"2026-08-19T16:56:49","slug":"the-tao","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/ksfreeman.com\/musings\/2026\/08\/19\/the-tao\/","title":{"rendered":"The Tao"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"768\" height=\"1024\" src=\"http:\/\/ksfreeman.com\/musings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/IMG_5967-768x1024.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-114\" srcset=\"http:\/\/ksfreeman.com\/musings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/IMG_5967-768x1024.jpeg 768w, http:\/\/ksfreeman.com\/musings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/IMG_5967-225x300.jpeg 225w, http:\/\/ksfreeman.com\/musings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/IMG_5967-1152x1536.jpeg 1152w, http:\/\/ksfreeman.com\/musings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/IMG_5967-1536x2048.jpeg 1536w, http:\/\/ksfreeman.com\/musings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/IMG_5967-scaled.jpeg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>The tao that can be told\u00a0<br>is not the eternal Tao\u00a0<br>The name that can be named\u00a0<br>is not the eternal Name.<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Tao Te Ching\u00a0by Lao Tzu<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I have been an admirer of the Tao Te Ching since I discovered it in my early twenties. I have loved the seeming contradictory nature of it. As I practice drawing it has been a guiding influence on the way I think about the universe and my place in it. I don&#8217;t look too far beyond for inspiration but prefer to be close to the place I feel most grounded. Good fortune has brought me to where I live and love. I have been granted much space to explore the Maine woodland and familiarize myself with its ever evolving majesty. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Occasionally, I think, Oh, maybe I should go further away to explore new vistas to incorporate into my artwork. But I am so compelled to stay close, to what may seem familiar but on second look becomes the miracle of mindfulness. I think the Tao has opened my mind to the possibilities of discovery as I apply ink to paper or paint to canvas. And also, words to pages, another of my great loves. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"746\" height=\"1024\" src=\"http:\/\/ksfreeman.com\/musings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/IMG_5846-746x1024.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-111\" srcset=\"http:\/\/ksfreeman.com\/musings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/IMG_5846-746x1024.jpeg 746w, http:\/\/ksfreeman.com\/musings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/IMG_5846-219x300.jpeg 219w, http:\/\/ksfreeman.com\/musings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/IMG_5846-768x1054.jpeg 768w, http:\/\/ksfreeman.com\/musings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/IMG_5846-1120x1536.jpeg 1120w, http:\/\/ksfreeman.com\/musings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/IMG_5846-1493x2048.jpeg 1493w, http:\/\/ksfreeman.com\/musings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/IMG_5846-scaled.jpeg 1866w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 746px) 100vw, 746px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><strong><em>Woods Drawing with Stonewall<\/em><\/strong>, stick, pen and ink, on paper, 6&#8243;x8&#8243;<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The tao that can be told\u00a0is not the eternal Tao\u00a0The name that can be named\u00a0is not the eternal Name. The Tao Te Ching\u00a0by Lao Tzu I have been an admirer of the Tao Te Ching since I discovered it in &hellip; <a href=\"http:\/\/ksfreeman.com\/musings\/2026\/08\/19\/the-tao\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[3],"tags":[5,11,14,13],"class_list":["post-113","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-art-kevin-freeman","tag-art","tag-drawing","tag-photography","tag-toa-te-ching"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/ksfreeman.com\/musings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/ksfreeman.com\/musings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/ksfreeman.com\/musings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ksfreeman.com\/musings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ksfreeman.com\/musings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=113"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/ksfreeman.com\/musings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":115,"href":"http:\/\/ksfreeman.com\/musings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113\/revisions\/115"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/ksfreeman.com\/musings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=113"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ksfreeman.com\/musings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=113"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ksfreeman.com\/musings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=113"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}