A Better Monastery

I’ve been trying to be less frantic, less hijacked by petty stuff, and more awake to my actual life actually happening.

I thought a Zen-like life meant becoming more serene, like being on a full-time retreat. This morning, it meant noticing the wet dog, my full bladder, the sun on my face, Mary’s expression as she took her meds, and one honest breath.

Maybe a Zen-like life isn’t retreating from reality. Maybe it’s being ambushed by it — through the ordinary, bodily, inconvenient, intimate moments.

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