Archives

Chop Wood, Carry Water

Each year, I go to the woods with a chainsaw to cut firewood. Later, returning with a hydraulic woodspitter, to split the pieces, stack them in the sun to dry for a year before bringing them home to restack for the winter. A seeming mundane physical task men have done since early days of caves and fires.


 



Being in an office each day, I do need outdoors and physical intensity for balance in my life. One of the ways I maintain some balance in my life is to work outside at some mundane task


For me, making firewood serves to balance my life, as well as provide a cozy fire in my backyard and in my home. Sitting in front of a warm fire, as I write this post, gives inspiration and a warm atmosphere to the entire room and house.

“Why spend so much time and energy doing all that? You would be ahead working and simply buying the wood.” someone may comment. Financially, yes, I would be “ahead,” but not physically, emotionally, or spiritually. (It is so easy for some to measure the value of life in financial numbers. )


I do it for the same reason some people run, workout, play guitars, draw, sketch, paint, make Zentangle art, play competitive sports, ride horses, do beading, quilting, and other artistic home crafts, These all have their origins in ancient civilizations.


I do it for balance and for expression of some deep internal impulse.


While civilization has shielded men and women from much drudgery of past centuries, we can yet reconnect with our primal roots and our souls through creative/expressive forms that are symbols of our ancestors.


Rick Fields wrote his best seller, Chop Wood, Carry Water, based on a well known Buddhist quote, “Before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood, carry water.” Here an ancient Buddhist saying conveys the spiritual value of seeming mundane physical tasks when done as a mindful ritual.


As much as spiritual rituals of today’s religions, these activities are in some way spiritual rituals for the doing of them reconnects us with a deeper part of us that is embedded in our very souls.


We are not just chopping wood, making art, or writing stories. We are connecting with the Source energy of our very souls that provides healing, inspiration, and compassion for ourselves and all others in our world.

These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.
  • Digg
  • Sphinn
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • Mixx
  • Google
  • Furl
  • Reddit
  • Spurl
  • StumbleUpon
  • Technorati

Writing a First Novel

I have begun writing my first novel. My friend Judi tells me that each November there is a national challenge of writing a novel in one month. The challenge is that of writing 50,000 words in one month; 1,667 per day toward a new novel. The goal is to complete a first draft, even a messy one; the editing and rewriting can come later.


 http://www.nanowrimo.org/


Why would I do that? For the same reason I began my first Yoga class last Thursday. For the same reason I learn a new German word each day on my iGoogle home page. For the same reason I do Zentangle art. And for the same reason, that in the past, I have learned to do meditation and tai chi, to fly an airplane and a hang glider.

Sometimes it helps to put oneself in the place of a beginner; to do something one knows that one cannot do well at the beginning. Sometimes it helps to challenge oneself to complete a task that seems so daunting at the beginning, one questions one’s sanity. A creative challenge stretches the mind and imagination that can never go back to its original size.

To start at a beginning, a place of innocence, no blame, is being a beginner traveling in a foreign land. These journeys make my life richer, giving me a sense of confidence and mastery. But, the journeys also bring me a sense of humility. For me, these are the journeys into a great sense of awe and appreciation for the abilities of others whose creative work I consume each day and often take for granted.

Judi is a published author who teaches creative writing classes. She is way ahead of me in this venture. I struggle to keep with the daily writing pace. Today is day 6 of the journey. I need only concern myself with today’s goal by writing one sentence at a time, just as Zentangle art is made “one stroke at a time.”


The novel will take care of itself; it will write itself into what form it wants. My place is to stay in my beginner role each day as I sit and write each next sentence as it comes to me.

The goal of this journey is not to win, but to enjoy the experience, and to finish well.

These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.
  • Digg
  • Sphinn
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • Mixx
  • Google
  • Furl
  • Reddit
  • Spurl
  • StumbleUpon
  • Technorati