You miss a step
And fall back down,
You miss a step
And touch the ground.
You miss a step
And put at stake
All the world
For beauty’s sake.

You miss a step
And try to rise
But cannot find a hold.

You miss a step
And burn your hands
Reaching in the cold.

You miss a step
And slide three back
Into the endless dark

You miss a step
And try to rise
But the clouds have left their mark.

Taoist teachings had a profound effect on Chinese culture and society. Lao Tzu had written, “Let us have a small country with a few inhabitants,” so “Civilization was ridiculed as primitive and idealized . . . Travel was discouraged as pointless and conducive to idle curiosity” (Smith, 213-214). People strived to be at peace with nature as well as the community and built their temples in ways that helped them blend in with their environment, believing that “At best, human beings do likewise.

While Philosophical Taoism is the major strain of the religion and most influential, “No solid walls separate [the three powers, or Taoisms]; the three are better regarded as currents in a common river” (Smith, 207).

“The object of philosophical Taoism is to align one’s daily life with the Tao, to ride its boundless tide and delight in its flow.” (207)

School Taoism, as it is referred to in China, focuses not on the mind, movement and matter, or on magic, but on knowledge. They respect Lao Tzu, the Tao Te Ching, and other proselytizers of the Philosophical Taoist methods.

The ancient Chinese were a superstitious people. Tao Chiao – “Church Taoism” or “Taoist Teachings” – was the Taoist division that dealt with the supernatural world. This cultish Taoism saw that

The purpose of Vitalizing Taoism is to release the ch’i in oneself and allow it to flow continually. Literally, “ch’i" means “breath,” but “it actually means vital energy” (Smith, 201).

Taoism began in China with the only book ever written by a quiet country dweller, Lao Tzu. His masterpiece, the Tao Te Ching, introduced the world to “The Way and Its Power.” In it he described “the Way” – the Tao, as such:

I liked you.
There-
I said it.
Do you think
I could have meant it?
I must say-
I knew reality
Would not
Always be kind to me.
But when we
Last spoke-
Really spoke-
You told me
The truth.
It’s good I did
Not place my hope in you
For you were as
Distant as the clouds.

It was one of those moments that shall perpetually live on in my mind, a part of untouched, unaltered memory that I shall carry with me like a love letter, even when it's old and torn I don't dare throw it away. Even hours after it's occurred the memory of your sweet, childish words as they reach me miles away never fails to take my breath away, and I could feel myself falling deeper into the rabbit hole called love as I replied with similar whimsical phrases.

Goodnight, sleep tight,
May sweet dreams break to morning light,
I'll stay in repose as you chase the wind
And when the time comes I'll join you again

Goodnight, sleep tight,
Whenever you ask, I'm always all right
As you have your dreams, I bury mine
I'll dig them back up when I find the time

Goodnight, sleep tight,
May your eyes always stay as bright
As I choke on the scissors, invisible blades
When I lose, you don't have to come to my aid