“Monday 5 Things” ….. Quiet Forces That Move …..
August 4th, 2025 by D. Paul Graham
Ever curious and always amused by the quirks of life, join D. Paul Graham each Monday for more M5T pondering.
“Vandal” the force of mural art by Nick Walker, photo by D. Paul Graham, CityWays parking garage, Indianapolis, IN.
Some people find it hard to believe, but I’m actually an introvert. My batteries are recharged by having time alone. It’s one of the reasons I enjoy being on racetracks. I am afforded the time to create, but I am also able to embrace the luxury of time alone to think, to plan, to simply be within myself, and to let ideas flow. Some ideas don’t just inspire you. They rewire you. Likely, not all at once, but over years, in layers, Like the scent of books in an old library, or the soft creases in an old leather jacket. These forces have followed me, shaped me, and occasionally confronted me. They have never shouted, but they have persisted. These forces aren’t static. They breathe and they evolve. Looking back, I can see the fingerprints they have left on every area of my life. When I look ahead, I now know they’ll still be there, continuing to purposefully shape the next version of me. It was during a race in Indianapolis, and some parking garage artwork, that this morning’s M5T quietly took shape and came about.
1. THE PARADOX OF SIMPLICITY. The more I learn, the more I crave simplicity. Not in a minimalist, trendy sense, but in the extraordinary art of creating clarity. A well-placed word. A graceful gesture. A photograph that doesn’t shout but causes one to stop and really look. Simplicity is the result of mastery, not the beginning of it. It means wrestling with chaos until only the essentials remain. It’s why a single line of poetry or from a song can touch my emotions deeper than an entire dissertation. It’s why I trim my sentences and my expectations. I now believe that any truth should not be all that complex. Rather, truth ought to be simple enough to hold in the palm of your hand.
2. TIME WON’T BE RUSHED. We are trained, some might say programmed, to believe that speed equals success. Faster projects. Faster replies. Faster outcomes. But the good things, the most meaningful, the most enduring, the truly deep things, can be doggedly slow. Agape love. Grief. Healing. Patience. Understanding. Wisdom. I’ve come to revere the spiritual weight of deliberate slowness. To sit with questions. To think. To strategize. To focus. To wait for clarity. To let things mature without forcing the issue. Time itself doesn’t take notice, nor does it ever negotiate, with your schedule. It runs on its own quiet logic, one second at a time.
3. THE UNSEEN LIVES OF OTHERS. We’re all layered, complicated, and private. Even the loudest people carry things they’ll never say out loud. As I’ve moved into my 60’s, I come to realize that most of the pain in the world comes from assuming we know someone’s story just because we’ve seen the chapter headings that they allow us to see. But real understanding begins with curiosity. “What don’t I know? What aren’t they saying? What if they’re fighting a battle I can’t see?” Understanding this changed how I speak. It changed how I negotiate. It changed how I photograph. It changed how I love. It is a perspective that gives me unexpected comfort, knowing that we’re all performing, whether in large or small ways, our personal quiet valor, every day.
4. THE FRAGILITY OF CERTAINTY. When I was younger, I thought wisdom meant having all answers. Now I see that wisdom often means having better questions. Certainty can be a trap, a seductive illusion of control. It feels sturdy until life, loss, or love shakes it to your very core. But doubt, that comes from honesty and humility, can be the most fertile ground. Doubt makes room for growth, for surprise, and for grace. I don’t trust people who are always sure of themselves. I trust those who’ve been wrong and stayed curious. That’s where real wisdom resides. Wisdom doesn’t come from always being right. It comes from always being ready.
5. THE COURAGE TO BEGIN AGAIN. There is courage in picking yourself up, dusting yourself off, no matter how embarrassed you may be, and starting over from square one. Not because you failed, but because you've outgrown the map. That’s a particular kind of spirit that rarely gets applause. We’re taught to value perseverance, and rightly so. But there’s another kind of strength in saying, “this no longer fits who I’m becoming.” It takes humility to admit that something once good for you may no longer be right. It takes vision to imagine that what’s next could be better, deeper, truer. Beginning again doesn’t mean erasing the past. It means using the past as motivation for the next season of your life. It means trusting that becoming is more important than arriving. It means learning, over and over, to choose evolution over comfort in your life.
Here's to a week of listening and acting on the quiet forces of your life.
© 2025 D. Paul Graham, All Rights Reserved
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Paul continues to prune the dead branches, ask questions, and walk the long way around.
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