If you're quiet and tranquil you can become ruler of the world

Warning. There is a philosopher at large in downtown Bermtopia. No one is safe.

Mind your mind. For it shall be blown.

I first came across the scholar's work (above) a few weeks ago on the Centennial Trail near The Chamber of Horrors my place of work.

And then this, on a Centennial Trail bench looking across to Gonzaga University, my alma mater. We did more than a fair share of philosophizing there, thanks to the good Jesuits. And Coors beer.

This was wedged in a wrought iron fence surrounding Ugly Betty's (nice name, yes?), a somewhat dodgy bar on Division St.

And this, at an intersection a few blocks away from the Chamber of Horrors my office.

Instead of the village square or steps of the Parthenon, The Philosopher uses utility and cable boxes as his/her platform for cerebral inquiry and reflection.

Yeah, that was me taking a cell phone picture of a utility box
at noon on Spokane Falls Blvd. yesterday.
You're welcome.

The Philosopher shares his/her musings with a Sharpie permanent marker and/or chalk. And how and when our New Age Aristotle finds time to pen his or her thoughts, god only knows.

Although I've just noticed his/her work over the last few weeks, The Philosopher has been around for awhile, judging from the faded scrawl above. I now look for his/her messages whenever I go downtown, hungry and curious for The Philosopher's new insights on life.  And when I find and read them, I am strangely at peace -- rare in these last few weeks punctuated with natural disaster and political rancor.

Is it graffiti? I choose to think not. The Philosopher avoids personal property and beloved city landmarks. I want to call it an urban credo, a call to slip into a more mindful place, to seek more simplicity and let substance fill the empty nooks and crannies of busy lives.

"If you're quiet and tranquil you can become ruler of the world."