Tag: Thich Nhat Hanh

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Hello, Old Friend

Thich Nhat Hanh suggests that we greet an uncomfortable thought, worry, or fear with, “Hello, Old Friend. I know you.” When I heard this in the gentle, loving voice of Roshi Joan Halifax, I immediately felt an Ahh.

I suppose when you acknowledge that you’ve been here before, you’ve felt this before, and yet life went on and possibly even became quite nice again, you can imagine that it will once more. There’s also something comforting about familiarity, even with a negative thought. Oh yeah. You again. I know you. You’re back. That little part of me that nags and bothers from time to time, that needs something again. My little demon. Maybe it just needs soothing.

You never know when a little nugget of wisdom will hit home, do you? You do have to keep listening for them, though. Although if you miss it first time around, it’s likely to pop up again. I’m trying to listen harder these days, since it might be nicer to try and catch them on their first time flying by. Time is limited, you know. The next little bit of grace I pick up might make all the difference in an interaction I’m about to have with a child or a friend, one of my sons or siblings, or even a perfect stranger. So I want to listen!

Sometimes, too, these bits of wisdom are my own epiphanies and realizations. I have found things in my Morning Pages that I wrote down long ago and I’d managed to forget, things that were surprisingly insightful! And yet here I am having this beautiful discovery all over again. Good thing some little part of me is paying attention.

“My actions are my only true belongings.” – Thich Nhat Hanh

“For things to reveal themselves to us, we need to be ready to abandon our views about them.” – Thich Nhat Hanh

“What you are looking for is already in you…You already are everything you are seeking.” – Thich Nhat Hanh

If you’re looking for my cards or art, you’ll find all of that on my website. If you enjoy these letters, feel free to forward this one to anyone you think might like it. And if someone forwarded this one to you, you can sign up here to receive the letters right in your Inbox. Finally, you’ll find past letters and poems here.

Thanks for listening,
Kay

P.S. MerryThoughts is the name of my first book, out of print at the moment. The word is a British one, referring both to a wishbone and to the ritual of breaking the wishbone with the intention of either having a wish granted or being the one who marries first, thus the “merry thoughts.”

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My Book of Walks

2020 was the year of walking, for so many people. People streamed by my house with kids or dogs. There were memes and jokes on social media about dogs hiding from their owners who were wanting to go on yet another walk. An idea sprang up for people to put teddy bears in their windows for kids to count as they passed by–a Teddy Bear Hunt. I put some of my bears in the living room window, too. People decorated their windows, doors or yards in ways that would be fun for passersby. It felt very communal.

I was one of those walkers, too, since I was already walking with my dogs every day, and I loved seeing all the cheerful messages around the neighborhood, greeting new people with their dogs, observing the ways people kept their houses and yards, checking out all the Little Libraries in my area. I love walking anyway, and I’ve been at it still. Some of those walks have been with both of my dogs, with just Miles, by myself, or with a friend.

On my birthday last year I started keeping a book of my daily walks. I had a blank book that had belonged to a friend who died. Since it has French words on the cover, I had assumed she bought it in Paris. And in my typical way, I imagined some Romantic meaning (mai oui! because it’s French) but when I looked up Mon Carnet De Poche I found it just means My Pocket Notebook. Oh well. C’est la vie.

So each day I put down the date and write a little something about the walk–who I was with, where we went, who we met (including any dog’s name that we learned), what I saw, what the morning was like. It has resulted in me speaking to people I see and asking their names, which is nice. And I started picking up little bits of thing that I’d see–leaves, flower petals, things like that–and I tape them into the book. It is now a year later and the book is fatter (me, too, despite the walking) and full of lots of little bits of thing. And with pages to go! It has been a fun little project that I will likely stop when there are no pages left.

One of my friends’ houses that Miles always likes to go visit

I always have some kind of record-keeping thing like this to add to my routines and make life just a little more interesting. I imagine I’ll think of something else to keep track of, write down, or collect when I’m finished with this. What about you?

“Now shall I walk or shall I ride?

‘Ride,’ Pleasure said;

‘Walk,’ Joy replied.”

― W.H. Davies

“But the beauty is in the walking — we are betrayed by destinations.”

― Gwyn Thomas

If you’re looking for my cards or art, you’ll find all of that on my website. And if you enjoy these letters, feel free to forward this one to anyone you think might like it. Finally, you’ll find past letters and poems here.

Thanks for listening,
Kay

P.S. MerryThoughts is the name of my first book, out of print at the moment. The word is a British one, referring both to a wishbone and to the ritual of breaking the wishbone with the intention of either having a wish granted or being the one who marries first, thus the “merry thoughts.”