What is T'ai-Chi?

My Answer:

What is T’ai-Chi? What am I aiming for? Why do I practice it? What is it?

It is unforced balance. Unforced peace. It is being comfortable in my own body. It is being and feeling honest, inside and out. It is being and feeling relaxed, ready, loose, neutral, and unforced. It is being myself and feeling like myself. It is being and feeling fluid and nuanced in my movements. It is feeling in control of the degree of force I am using in any task. It is knowing what feels right and what does not. It is sensing danger and not panicking. It is keeping my tools sharp and ready to work.  It is being efficient without being mechanical. It is being willing to proceed in total darkness with no clear idea of what will happen or where I am going. It is knowing what the state of unforced balance feels like. It is knowing when unforced balance is being lost. It is knowing how to make corrections to get back to it, or near it, or at least towards it. It is having faith in Nature to always restore and express balance. It is understanding that balance is not a thing but a dynamic process, a constantly adjusting dance of fluctuation, always a work in progress, never still, always moving and always changing. It is feeling whole complete and unashamed. It is feeling alive. It is meeting life. It is meeting experience. It is being as true to myself as I can be.  It is being aware of the utter futility of trying to do this. It is being willing to do it anyway. Because nothing short of consciously experiencing the underlying nature of Nature, in action, in life, in relationship, in physical movement, in art and in friendship is worth consecrating myself to. It is using less and less force. It is surrendering to what is most natural. It is unforced balance.