I have been a long time reader of zenhabits.net but I have not been a regular visitor. I pop in from time to time and read a few posts and then come back when I am craving some of Leo’s classic zen perspective.
Well yesterday I got some! And it’s a nugget that I will keep and use my whole life. I know it. The reason I am sure about this is because the idea has been linked in my brain.
Here is the link (not to my brain – it’s scary in there).
http://zenhabits.net/are-we-there-yet/
In the post Leo shares the story of empty boats from a book called Everyday Zen. It’s a way of thinking about the stresses in our lives.
But what made the idea sticky for me is a song by Josh Ritter called Monster Ballads. The first lines are:
“Radio waves are coming miles and miles,
Bringing only empty boats,
Whatever feeling they had when they sailed,
Somehow slipped out between the notes,”
So I have connected the two of these in my brain. They are wound together. I didn’t mean for it to happen, It just did. Instantly.
And therein lies the power of words. You never know what will get connected.
And the more I learn about this the more careful I am trying to be about what I say. What questions I ask. What songs I sing.
So last night when my daughter was hiding from me when it was time for her bath, I saw an empty boat. And I sang the line in my head “Radio waves are coming from miles and miles…..”
She was just doing her thing. And her empty boat happened to bump into my idea of how the night should be going. She meant no harm. And I kept on singing in my head “Bringing only empty boats….”