When we come here, first thing in the morning, we’re chasing something impossible together. And though we don’t precisely think or talk of it in this way, this is what we are doing. And we are rather literally risking our lives to do this. Right now. In America, 2021. In a metropolis.

And the vehicle we are using, is called ‘tai chi’; but even though we’ve all been chasing this for many years, or decades, most of us will admit if we’re being honest, that it’s not a ‘what’ that we’re pursuing at all. It’s a way. And this is a vehicle in which we may follow and discover all the possibilities of this way.

But we risk our lives. To practice together. Each morning. Not out of a sense of rebellion; precisely the opposite. Out of a sense of the necessity of risking our lives in the pursuit of the impossible. Together. With and for each other.

To remember and embody this imperative that, we imagine, is beyond the mere idea of virtue. We know it to be truly good. And we have this agreement; to be careful, but also to … be alive together in this dangerous, impossible mission. In a time we cannot make sense of.

In this matter we are a peculiar kind of cohort. One that risks our lives together in pursuit of learning and development. And the mystery of tai chi holds the center of the circle. This practice that has for us as deep — or a deeper — necessity than mere survival.

And if we rebel, we rebel against this: mere survival.

We were born to chase the impossible. Together. With and for each other*.

— what I did not tell them in the mornings

*Such desires can be captured… and counterfeited… particularly when opportunities for their authentic pursuit are scarce.