Every Day Zen
Monday, Monday, can’t trust that day… Sentinel squirrel, cloaked in brown, white chest bared, standing atop the highest loblolly pine branch. In the distant blue sky, the red shouldered hawk soars. Sighted or no? Life and death matters on Monday morning but to squirrel and hawk, one day lasts a moment. Hurricane Dorian, the storm... Continue Reading →
Today’s #LongerView is a look at love, not as it usually appears but perhaps as it exists. Who can ever know what goes on in another life? In this post, I am only an observer and cannot know this relationship; I can only give you “The View from Down the Hall.” As always, I provide... Continue Reading →
Rumi says, “as you start to walk on the way, the way appears.” It is not troll-free nor has it ever been. Trolls have always been available to distract and sow discord. Theirs is not a world of substance but nothing stuns a troll like silence. If there is no reaction, if no one “bites... Continue Reading →
Today’s #LongerView, “Shoving My Snark Elsewhere,” celebrates the joy of relationship, whether it’s with neighbor Grace, a mint plant, or at a native nursery. As Pema Chödrön says, “We are always in relationship.” I started thinking about that in terms of my social media presence and snark, specifically wondering where the joy was. As always,... 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 →
I have become quite fond of beginnings. They are timeless, emerging from change, dropping the baggage of loss or gain. They are ever new, without end. We think that the point is to pass the test or to overcome the problem, but the truth is that things don't really get solved. They come together and... Continue Reading →
This week’s #LongerView looks at failure. I’m still “sitting” through the experience so I may be here on the swinging bench for a few days this week. Maybe not. I am no longer on deadline. When things fall apart--as Pema Chödrön teaches me repeatedly--is yet another opportunity to define the indestructible. As I say in... Continue Reading →
Today’s #LongerView looks into the caverns of the heart in “No Ground Beneath My Feet.” Mostly, it considers letting go from the perspective that the action has already occurred. It is in the acceptance that we struggle but need we? I’m just not so sure about that anymore. I read your thoughtful comments carefully. If... Continue Reading →
In meditation, Pema Chödrön advises that I look around--find out what is happening--so, I do. My mind evens out. A breeze of equanimity continues to clear my brain fog; when necessary, it takes a broom to the cobwebs. This airing out of thought allows me to be in the moment, my only real frame of... Continue Reading →
I can suffer or I can sit in chaos. I choose chaos. It’s where I take my seat in Zen while the world whirrs. In some moment, I will be swept up. There’s no immunity nor should there be. Life is an experience. The seat of Zen keeps me in the moment I have and... Continue Reading →
