Ex-Romantics

I'm Mr. Negative (Mr. "Nego" for short) when it comes to Romantic ideas like; "You've just got to believe," or "Everyone has an inner Genius waiting to be revealed," or "Revolution now," or "Peace," or "How do you feeeeel about it?," or "I need a cleanse," or "Inner truth is found through embracing the mystery," or "Natural is better than synthetic."

There are a lot more of those slogans which define the rigid Romantic mind-set. I could go on ridiculing it all day, but I won't. Sometimes natural is better than synthetic, sometimes not. The reason I bring this up at all is that I used to be a Romantic, I used to believe all that stuff, so I'm sympathetic. I viscerally understand why this kind of simplicity is appealing.

Actually I'm more than sympathetic. As pathetic as this might sound-- being a Romantic was a gateway to learning about the body, the mind, martial arts, and Daoism.

If I can point my students in the direction of a bridge, that is preferable to gate, but if a gate is the only thing they see, then by all means, they should take the gate!