What’s an enso? It’s a Zen symbol. You’ve seen it. I’m certain of that. It’s that big swishy circle that adorns the covers of all sorts of popular treatises on Zen, meditation, and even decorating. What does it stand for? Unlimited potential. The emptiness inside the circle awaits the surprise of what’s in store. It could be filled up by anything. It’s like an empty apartment, awaiting the fabulous furniture that’s coming to it. Without the furniture it could be anything—a dance hall, a barn (good luck getting that cow up the stairs!), or a magical tented theatre.

Perhaps your circle is already full, but you don’t like the current contents of your life. This is where we switch from the wisdom of Zen to the wisdom of the Ohio Art Company. Consider this—your universe is your own Etch A Sketch. If you don’t like the picture currently on your screen, turn that bad boy over and shake things up a little. You can create new realities that please you better, and that’s a very powerful tool to have.

I can hardly wait to see what surprises are in store for my life, but in the meantime I’m also excited about the everyday joys that greet me. Today’s short list of delights includes the rain outside my window, an upcoming pirate-themed square dance weekend, my new hat (also pirate-themed), and getting back to my blog. I could go on, but if you spend too much time reading the blog, you’ll be missing your out on your own discoveries!

Your assignment, should you choose to accept it:

222. Remember that your life is always full of unlimited potential. While you look forward to future goodies, make a short list of joys you are experiencing right now.

And check out another of my delights—Winter in Asheville. My friend just started blogging again, too. http://laurelwinter.blogspot.com/

I’m not talking right now about the mystical kind of goodness created by the cosmological positioning of the stars, although I’m certain I’m getting all kinds of wonderful energy from those sorts of sources as well. I’m talking about the amazing things that happen when people support each other.

I’m involved in a number of different organizations, and I see this happening at all levels. My square dancing group is organizing a fly-in, which is a big event where people travel to Seattle to dance with us. My country dance group is organizing a Hoedown. Both of these events require an enormous amount of work, and both are being run by all-volunteer groups, and yet everyone is pulling together to get everything done. It’s incredible what people can do if they pull together. Both events are also getting all sorts of help from local businesses. We ask and it is given.

I’ve also been getting a lot of personal support. People will walk up to me when I’m out dancing and tell me that they’ve seen me dancing for a while now, and tell me that I’m doing well or that they’ve seen my skills improve over time. Other people—and many times I don’t even know these people—come over to tell me that they notice I’ve been losing weight. There have been days when my knees hurt or my spirits have needed a lift, and these kindnesses have cured my little troubles on the spot.

I think it’s true that we cannot always know the impact we have on the world as we move about, so I always try to make mine a positive one. When in doubt, I will compliment someone on a lovely dress or a well-behaved child. I know this brand of kindness sends a lot of healing out into the world, and I often find it rippling back at me from other people. Whoever you are, thank you!

Your assignment, should you choose to accept it:

221. When you’re out and about today and you notice something positive, feel free to share that thought with the object of your attention. Use your discretion, but remember that most people don’t get as much appreciation as they deserve. Isn’t it time to remedy that?

I relish these chances to walk in the rain, to breathe in the fresh clean air and enjoy the sound-dampening characteristics of the mist. I could hear the birds enjoying it with me, and I walked around a little bit extra once I got where I was going, just to soak it all in. Ah bliss!

I’ve been doing a lot of walking this weekend. Last night I marched in a candlelight vigil for the recently-formed Queer Ally Coalition. There’s been an increase lately in gay bashings, so our community wants to remain visible, organized, and strong. The walk felt very positive to me, and I think we got our message across.

Now I’m off to commune with friends. I know many people go to a church to worship on Sunday, and I support them in that. I feel like I’ve worshipped all over Seattle today. Life is good.

See you tomorrow!

Link, should you desire it:

http://www.capitolhillseattle.com/2009/02/28/anti-hate-vigil

This seems strange sentiment coming from a native New Yorker who lived for thirteen years in Minnesota. In my heart and in my head, I know we are lucky to get a mere dusting of snow in February when the heaviest accumulations hit Minneapolis in March, and frozen temperatures occur there well into April. I know that, but I prefer our wimpier West Coast ways. I am tired of the cold, and I was sad to see the pansies weighed down by yesterday’s minor downfall. Now it’s all melted, and equilibrium has been restored. The weather is beautiful today, warm and sunny.

We all adjust to our local atmospheres, although every time I move somewhere new I’m told the weather is atypical for the place itself. Either I am responsible for this shift in weather—and you should begin to do rain dances for me—or there is no typical weather at all. I’m going to go with the second option, because I’d like to think it’s not the third choice, the dreaded global warming. It’s probably a mix of all three.

What can we do about it? Since I don’t really control the weather, try as I might, I’ve got to go back to my Buddhist roots to find some help. Buddhism teaches that attachment is the root of all suffering, and if we can let that go, we’ll be happier. In other words, the only reason the snow annoyed me yesterday was because I wished it wasn’t there. It wasn’t inherently that unpleasant all by itself, and the tiny white drifts actually looked very pretty against the green grass and the yellow flowers. I did not create the snow, but I did make myself suffer for it. Why should I do that, when there’s so much fun to be had? Darned if I know.

Your assignment, should you choose to accept it:

220. What is the weather today? Try to experience it based on what it actually is, not on what you wished it would be.

I’ve also just joined a gym, and muscles I haven’t used in a while are starting to wake up. They’re being a little bit cranky with me, but I can’t blame them. When was the last time I called on my triceps to do anything special? I do a lot of dancing, but the biceps don’t get a lot of play there, so things are a bit sore. I’m choosing to see it as a sign of progress.

I ended up having a very intriguing experience at the gym yesterday. I usually walk for about twenty minutes to warm up my muscles, and then I get off the treadmill and lift weights. Yesterday, I was listening to music as I walked, and I was having so much fun walking that I just didn’t want to stop. I decided to go with the flow and walked for an extra half an hour before going on to the rest of the workout. This was really fun, because this kind of spontaneous joy happens to me all the time when I dance but I didn’t expect to see it at the gym.

Sometimes I think I get in my own way by having the wrong sorts of expectations. This was a good reminder to me to experience things and enjoy whatever happens, rather than expecting things to be a certain way. If I’d expected to have a bad time, I would have. I see the same thing in the dancing classes I take. One of my friends has decided that he is going to have trouble figuring everything out. Of course, he always has trouble. When I tell him what a great job he’s doing, he invariably does better until he goes back to expecting trouble. I learn a little more quickly than he does, but not because I’m a better dancer. I simply realize that I might not learn everything immediately, and know that I’m going to keep at it until I do. My muscles will not become strong overnight, and the daffodils will not spring instantly out of the soil, but all things beneficial are worth waiting for. Spring is underway, and it’s time to celebrate that.

Your assignment, should you choose to accept it:

219. The next time you have a big project to accomplish, try to leave your negative assumptions behind you. It’ll be so much easier without your mind dragging you down.

See you shortly!

I’m still working on joy, though, but today I’m not feeling particularly joyful. I’m working towards it. In the middle of my personal stress, a threat was announced in the press to one of the major places where I go dancing. Some wacko is threatening to kill the customers of local gay bars. I found this out right after I opened the book of lesbian short stories I borrowed from the library—there was an insert that someone put in to tell me that “the wages of sin are death” and that I was going to hell. This sort of thing is more stressful at a time when I’m already stressed, but I’ve progressed from sadness to anger. Eventually the joy will return. It always does, especially when I go out dancing. I won’t let this self-appointed vigilante stop me from going dancing, just because s/he doesn’t like gay bars. I will be careful be more careful than usual, however.

Your assignment, should you choose to accept it:

218. Next time you’re in a difficult spot or a difficult mood, keep going. You’ll catch up to joy soon enough if you keep onwards.

Link, should you desire it:

Details on the threats in Seattle made to gay bars,

http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2009/01/06/gay_bars_receive_threatening

Every year for New Year’s we write a letter to ourselves. This letter looks back on some of the accomplishments of the previous year and where things stand as it is being written. The letter also spells out some hopes for the coming year, some idea of where I’d like to be heading. Notice that I did not say that the letter contains New Year’s resolutions. I don’t like resolutions, as I believe each moment is a chance to start fresh. I also believe that I do not need to wait for January first to resolve to make improvements. I’ve personally found that making specific New Year’s resolutions puts too much pressure on whatever goal it is I’m trying to reach, thereby dooming it to failure. So I don’t resolve, but I do look forward.

Often Laurie and I will share these letters with each other, but I otherwise don’t broadcast my New Year’s letter. It’s for me and very close friends. I’ve been doing this for a few years now, so every New Year’s Eve I also reread the previous letters I’ve written myself. It’s a great joy to find out how far I’ve come.

Although I’ve had a rough year—I’m still unemployed, suffering from the economic troubles that are engulfing the country right now—I’ve also had a pretty good one. I started dancing, I started this blog, and I did a lot of other writing. I just know that next year’s going to be even better. I hope this evening finds you somewhere having fun with friends or enjoy the company of your own wonderful self. See you next year!

Your assignment, should you choose to accept it:

217. What New Year’s Eve traditions do you observe? Share your traditions with others. Also, consider giving the letter-writing tradition a try.

Walking home from dancing last Friday, two guys walked right past me, and as we were waiting for the light to change so we could cross, one said to the other: “Come on, everyone gets drunk at least once in their life and punches a cop.” I started laughing at that, and the same guy said to me: Aren’t I right?” I told him I had never had that experience, and felt deprived, but would try to make up for it. As they walked on, he told his friend that when you were in your twenties you were supposed to be wild and crazy. It made me laugh, especially as I spent most of my twenties studying for exams.

Walking downtown, I heard another man say to his friends: “See, Seattle is great. Aren’t you glad you didn’t ride the bus all the way to Vancouver?” His friends agreed that, yes, they had been glad to get off the bus, whereupon the man said: “Vancouver is a little nicer, I’ll grant you, but not nine hours on a bus nicer.”  I think that should be our tourism slogan—”almost as good as Vancouver, but a lot closer.” I haven’t been to Vancouver yet, so I can’t rate the validity of this man’s claim, but I thought it was an interesting thing to say.

Today as I stood waiting for the bus I heard another little interchange. These guys were talking about musicians, and one man told the other that Elvis would definitely be able to take Prince in a fist fight, while the other man felt that Prince would be able to beat Elvis up. Neither offered any good reason for their contention. I simply wondered how they’d gotten to that point. Why would anyone consider the fighting strength of these two disparate musicians? How could this conversation have gotten started?

The sidewalks are full of this sort of street theater, and all of it is free for the taking. It’s one of the reasons I love to walk so much, and one of the reasons it’s so much more fun to walk outside than on a gym treadmill. And shouldn’t exercise be fun?

Your assignment, should you choose to accept it:

216. Go for a walk and keep your ears open. If you hear something entertaining, share it with a friend later.