Dogs are my Zen The other day I filled out some paperwork for massage therapy. It asked me what I do to relax, and I should have written Walk my dogs. Walking shelter dogs has the same effect (although I’d prefer that Mia and Leo believe they’re the only dogs with this effect on me).Continue reading “Z is for Zen”
Category Archives: buddha
Taking Wonder with a twist of Danger
During a recent martial arts class, Rob asked his students whether they saw the world as a dangerous place with moments of wonder, or a wondrous place with moments of danger. Definitely a wondrous place, I thought. Then I considered my writing and realized that to move the action forward in my novel, I needContinue reading “Taking Wonder with a twist of Danger”
The Japanese art of folding patterned paper
A few years ago, a work associate I knew only slightly was diagnosed with a brain tumor. He was given a few months to live, but survived almost a year. During that time, I followed a Caring Bridge blog documenting his illness, treatment and family life. One of the ways his loved ones coped wasContinue reading “The Japanese art of folding patterned paper”
Problem solved
One of my recurring anxiety dreams involves needing to pack up an entire apartment, but I’m running out of time and space in my luggage. Last night, I was in dream Chicago and was going to miss my flight, and the person traveling with me with hadn’t even started packing! Then the dream took aContinue reading “Problem solved”
Still winter
We had a little snowfall last night And now for your moment of Zen:
Little tearful
Here’s someone who was unhappier than we were to be on the extremely crowded Kangra Valley Rail. You have to click to see the larger picture, to really get a good look at those welling-up tears. Here’s another unhappy traveler, although she seems more annoyed than anything: Don’t know why I felt better, having documentedContinue reading “Little tearful”
Our trip in pictures (Part 1 of 999)
I hope no one’s tired of my trip to India yet. We’ve been back almost 2 weeks, and I’m still uploading pictures. Can you believe I’ve created 7 new albums on Facebook, and not one of them contains a picture of my dog? Nepal Along the Ganges The Bodhi Tree Calcutta, Chennai and Cochin ObligatoryContinue reading “Our trip in pictures (Part 1 of 999)”
Buddhist monkeys
Today we decided to walk up to the “nice place to meditate.” I knew this was going to be physically challenging for me, but what else did we have to do? A few minutes in, I was all, “It’s hot, I can’t, I’ll wait here.” It wasn’t particularly scenic at that point, just hot andContinue reading “Buddhist monkeys”
Ahh, Dharamsala
Brilliant decision to stay here two nights, instead of going overnight back to Delhi tonight. Not least because our laundry won’t be done til tomorrow. Feels good to just relax. To not have to be up for anything, which has been the case only a couple of other times, both in Bombay, I think, andContinue reading “Ahh, Dharamsala”
From hell on earth to the top of the world
Delhi was hotter than a son of a bitch. We arrived early in the morning, went through the bizarre experience that is booking an overnight train ticket to Dharamsala (or in that general direction) and left our luggage for the day at the hotel where we plan to stay when we return to Delhi fromContinue reading “From hell on earth to the top of the world”
