Routine

With palms together,

Good Morning All,

This morning as I opened my eyes the desert sun was rather high. I vowed to see with clear eyes and reduce violence, then got out of bed to make the coffee, walk the dogs --- who were very patient --- and begin my day.

There is something very beautiful about routine. Routines, everyday rituals, are the hangers and organizers of our everyday. In one sense they make everyday events special. In another sense we recognize their everydayness.

When we are young we want to press against the everyday, breaking it, no smashing it, on the ground of change. Our goal is to experience our limits and push them. Not bad. We expand our minds and bodies. We grow stretching toward the light of day.

As we age, we shift our gears little by little, wanting to have a break. We begin to view change as a threat sometimes or at the least an inconvenience. We begin to delight in the common. We take comfort in the sameness of daily routine.

As we age more, we look back. Sometimes wanting not to let go of that youthful vigor and excitement we once were possessed by. At other times we welcome this opportunity to review. Review deepens our understanding. It contextualizes the processes of life. Blessed perspective.

In each of these times, our orientation is seemingly different. Zen teaches us that they are the same, however, and it is our effort to grip something tightly that is problematic and in the processes disallows us the moment and all that it has to offer us.

When we rise, at whatever age, and vow to see things clearly, that is enough. For then we are seeing without lusting, seeing for seeing itself. It is in this moment that we are truly free.

Practice.

A deep bow,