Today was my day to write a comment on a book an on-line group is reading. I struggled. I laughed. The chapter was on simply experiencing the moment, our creativity and being as it is without expectation. How does one write a comment for others to read without expectation? And, is that not our fear of engaging our own creativity and expression? Without reading a word of the book, may you who have stumbled upon these little words, know the sacred perfection of this moment, your heart, and all that is…..

Opening disclaimer and confession: My assignment of this chapter has been making me laugh out loud for some time now. Even more as I try to post a written comment. Loori summarizes the principals, philosophy or aesthetics behind Zen art and creativity: still point, no mind, simplicity, ordinariness, mystery, playfulness and “thusness” or “is-ness.” Whatever the guiding label, the root is indeed being in absorbed in this one moment without expectation. Bold dancing stillness. Quiet boisterous laughter. Ordinary overwhelming awe. Unknown mysteries known. My laughter holds these contradictions as I wonder, ok little one, how do I write a simple, ordinary comment that is filled with mystery, playfulness and simply IS this moment without expectation or intent? How do I not lose the fullness of this moment by describing it?

The blizzard outside draws my eyes from the computer. Within the wind swept sheets of snow, small funnels form and the whisked snow dances and turns. The tiny lizard in my laundry room, I thought dead, has turned his head. A new Peace Lilly leaf is trying to lift the mature leaf out of its way. I type on computer keys to the rhythm and passion of the piano music playing. The other day as my fingers smeared the finger paint all over the paper, a young child asked me why I had so much gray hair. I laughed out loud. A child who could not sit still became a statue when I answered his question of how old I was – a few weeks shy of 62. I smeared paint on my cheek and laughed, “Amazing yeah?” My little dog is running here and there trying to find a place to hide her treasured sock.

And here I sit trying to avoid losing all this with the expectation of writing a comment. When I write my blog, a photograph I’ve taken tip toes into my mind. I sit at the computer and type with no mind. I hit send, bow my head, giggle, and walk away. Done. This feels different. Perhaps that is what Loori is telling us. Listen for the tip toes. Act. Hold the moment sacred as your truth. Walk into the next moment with simple joy. May every moment be honored as ‘done.’

These are my threads. The chapter is abundantly rich in more. But for now, the pianist is having a grand time running up and down the keyboard. My dog is barking at the mailman. A white curtain hides my neighbor’s house. My coffee cup warms my hands. And I am humming “row, row, row your boat…..”

Bow. Giggle. Send. Done.