Welcome to the Commune podcast. My name is Jeff Krasnow.

Many of you may receive my weekly Sunday commusing article, where I address a breadth of issues

from the spiritual to the physiological to the sociopolitical. And on occasion, I will record an audio version of

these screeds and release it here as a bonus episode. Now, today I share with you a Taoist lesson

in the form of a slightly annoying parable. Now, this fable was a favorite of Alan Watts, the British philosopher,

who delivered it with his inimitable panache. Now, I can't match his charm or accent, but we'll

endeavor to relay the underlying wisdom. Now, when something seemingly bad or good happens,

Skyler and I have a shorthand response. We look at each other and mouth, Chinese farmer.

My episode from last summer documenting my lost luggage serves as a perfect example of how we can never really predict the terminus of causal chains of events.

I prattle on about Taoism and such on Instagram at Jeff Krasno.

So you can follow me there if you so choose, but for now, without further delay.

Here's today's commusing titled Maybe.

Maybe. There once was a Chinese farmer whose horse ran away, and all the townspeople gathered at his

farm and lamented, what a great misfortune, how unlucky.

And the stoic Chinese farmer said, maybe. Now the next day, the horse returned with six stunning

wild horses alongside. And again, all of the townspeople gathered at his farm,

but this time they rejoiced. What great fortune they declared. What a stroke of luck.

Unmoved, the Chinese farmer said, maybe. The next morning, the Chinese farmer's son took one of the wild horses out for a ride,

and the horse bucked violently tossing the young man to the ground and breaking his ankle.

And all the townspeople again gathered at the farm to express their sympathy.

What an awful misfortune, they cried out. How

unlucky! The Chinese farmer said, maybe. And the following day, the army came to town to

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