Tao Te Ching, Verse 1, Part IV

“Nature can never be completely described, for such a description of Nature would have to duplicate Nature. No name can fully express what it represents.
It is Nature itself, and not any part (or name or description) abstracted from Nature, which is the ultimate source of all that happens, all that comes and goes, begins and ends, is and is not. But to describe Nature as 'the ultimate source of all' is still only a description, and such a description is not Nature itself. Yet since, in order to speak of it, we must use words, we shall have to describe it as 'the ultimate source of all.'
If Nature is inexpressible, he who desires to know Nature as it is in itself will not try to express it in words.
Although the existence of Nature and a description of that existence are two different things, yet they are also the same.
For both are ways of existing. That is, a description of existence must have its own existence, which is different from the existence of that which it describes; and so again we have to recognize an existence which cannot be described.” (Tao Te Ching, Verse 1, Bahm Translation)

One of the regular exercises I make my students do in their journals is quotation analysis. The steps I’ve given them for analyzing a quote are as follows: 1) write it in your own words, 2) write down what you think it means 3) write down whether you agree or disagree with what you think it means, 3) give reasons for why you agree or disagree with what you think it means, and then if you need more lines (15 lines of 8 to 10 words each per journal), give evidence from experiences you’ve had or heard of to support the reasons for why you agree or disagree with what you think it means. The whole idea is to give them tools for approaching things that they are unsure how to approach. We do at least one of these a week and I give them about ten minutes for each. I’m telling you this because on occasions when I get stuck, I’m going to follow a similar formula: 1) I’m going to put it in my own words, 2) I’m going to write down what I think it means 3) and then I’m going to give reasons for why that is what I think it means, and then if I need more lines (15 lines of 9 point, TIMES NEW ROMAN), I’m going to give evidence from experiences you’ve had or heard of to support the reasons for why that is what I think it means. Not only will this help me to write when I don’t feel like it or when I’ve nothing to say, it will also help me to better identify with my students (which is always one of my goals). It’s also occurred to me to just write about my day or whatever and see if it ties in to whatever the tao says in the given verse. You’d be surprised how often that sort of approach can work. Perhaps tomorrow, I’ll actually start writing about verse 1.