Every Day Zen
I call my life practice keeping it even, meeting each day's energy one dose at a time. It’s an ongoing balancing act between letting go and looking more closely. No experience stays any longer than necessary. But is it a cheerful practice? I never considered the question until Pema Chödrön offered yet another challenge. “Apply... Continue Reading →
Today’s #Longer View, “Of Bombs, Washing Machines, and Missions,” takes the question of why and stretches it over a false equivalency or two, maybe more. I lost count. Yesterday was one of those Saturdays but for once, I did listen most of the time. And that’s something, really something. Have a seat and a swing.... Continue Reading →
To mine my time, pickax dragging behind me, but that is a metaphor too heavy. I cannot go down time tunnels this day. Does the sea oat ever hesitate? Consider saying no to the breeze blowing by? Like water through rock I think not. And in a moment, my mind’s eye leaves the sand of... Continue Reading →
Time to pull up the swinging bench for the #LongerView on "Spreadsheet Zen," and how it does or does not add up every month. When I found the Zen in my budget categories, I lost the lack in my life. True story. Here, have a seat and a swing. Enjoy! Aim for Even posts offer equanimity... Continue Reading →
Almost a year ago I published “Once in a While a Protest Post.” How foolish the idea of a single or infrequent protest seems now, as America unravels at a pace rivaling the melting of Antarctica. The undoing of democracy some say but I suspect we are discovering what democracy demands and how we have... Continue Reading →
I put the bathroom scale in my bedroom closet--for now--as part of my Zen practice, which probably sounds like escape, and it might be, but as the Buddha taught, the practice is to live “not too tight and not too loose.” I’m familiar with life in the closet as a lesbian, a chronically ill adult,... Continue Reading →
Often, I save a thought on my phone app--Notes--a momentary capture of worth, what I believe to be untouchable in me. Sometimes, I work too hard at becoming my notes. I wear this label or that identity, rage in righteousness, or lose myself in hopelessness, forgetting where hope resides. In those times, I pull on... Continue Reading →
And what is a bodhisattva, anyway? I can tell you of my practice thus far. It is sitting in the slough of despond, not fearless but vulnerable, choosing compassion in chaos, accepting the uncertain. So yes, my life is messy but it is not dull. Time and again, I find light in failure, sometimes only... Continue Reading →
We have a cushion to absorb life so that it lands a bit more softly. It’s an accounting of sorts, this cushion, a meting out of Zen.The future is its own, the past forever gone, and life is always now--a balancing act. Some days, I max out my Zen spreadsheet, squirreling away for the future.... Continue Reading →
