When in Doubt | Day 7

When in Doubt

When in doubt,
Wear faux leopard.

When in doubt,
Err on the side of generosity.

When in doubt,
Greet everyone as you would the Buddha.

When in doubt,
Collect blessings from those who own nothing.

When in doubt,
Absorb biographies to avoid life’s major mistakes.

When in doubt,
Make life’s major mistakes.

When in doubt,
Pay attention to the vendor shouting ‘Diooooos,’
Even when you find out he was only shouting, ‘Gaaaaas.’

When in doubt,
Carry a handkerchief and a fan.

When in doubt,
Thank everyone. Twice.

When in doubt,
Heed the clouds.

When in doubt,
Sleep on it.

When in doubt,
Treat all sentient and insentient beings as kin.

When in doubt,
Forgive us our myopia
As we forgive those who are myopic against us.

When in doubt,
Unreel your grief to a tree.

When in doubt,
Remember this.
We are all on a
Caucus-race.

There is no start.
No finish.
Everyone wins.

- Sandra Cisneros, 2023

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I like writing that makes the sublime sit next to the mundane. I think absurdity is underrated as a way to access something a little divine. It’s often the moments where I feel most ridiculous that I’m suddenly catapulted into a sense of connection with the universe.

If you (like me) aren’t familiar with “caucus-race”, apparently it’s a reference to Alice in Wonderland. In a caucus-race race, the participants run haphazardly around in no particular direction, and there is no clear winner. If you (like me) first read that and thought Cisneros might be referencing race relations or presidential elections, that’s not an accident — Lewis Carroll was satirizing the political caucus system.

With that in mind, the last stanza could be read as a surrender to meaninglessness, but I think it’s ultimately a declaration of optimism. Nothing matters, the poem seems to say, so in times of uncertainty, you might as well think about pleasure. You might as well be generous and forgiving towards yourself and others. Maybe it is God or maybe it is gas — you might as well act like everyone is winning.

In doubt,

Jess