Zen and football.
I woke up this morning thinking about the San Francisco Zen Center. My brother practices Buddhism and spends a great deal of time there. The last time I was in California we ate dinner there and I stayed for a dharma talk which was dazzling. I left thinking I would start sitting zen, but of course I didn't. Thinking about that led me to investigate (online) the New England Bonsai Garden, which is on the way to my favorite auction house. I entertained a brief fantasy of selling bonsai trees in the store, which is ridiculous as they require special care and I'd have to take them back and forth from New York to Massachusetts, and I'd probably kill them. I'd like to think I'm the kind of person who could take care of a bonsai tree, but I'm actually a wildflower gal.
I'm not going to the store this weekend, haven't been to any auctions, and will be spending the next three days waiting for the Super Bowl. So while I am listening to yet another sports podcast (a side of me that you might find disturbing and wish I would go back to posting about ducks and waterfalls) I am setting myself to the task of writing better comments. I am altogether too lazy about it--I overuse exclamation points!!! And the word love! So I'm starting a word list to refer to when I comment on your blogs. Here's what I have so far:
beguiling
exotic
enchanting
exceptional
elegant
exquisite
glorious
dazzling
dainty
radiant
cunning
splendid
handsome
comely
delightful
winsome
delectable
enchanting
charming
intriguing
fetching
cozy
delightful
So while I am waiting for the most intriguing football game of the year, I look forward to reading your charming posts. Feel free to scold me if I use too many of these!!!!!
Enjoy your weekend,
Jen
what ? I LOVE exclamation points !!!
ReplyDeleteI will NEVER give them up!. but I was intrigued with your list of words to use...I'll have to come up with some more words
Love,
ME
-KAT-
I found yours is " himorous", " straightforward" and "honest" writing. And I understand perfectly your feeling on bonsai. I've never bought any bonsai and be more fascinated to see natural looking garden. Have a fantastic weekend, Jen.
ReplyDeletei have to admit not to be a football fun- but i do like your enthousiasm. enjoy it!!
ReplyDeletebig smile from Norway
Hello Jen:
ReplyDeleteBonsai were never favourites of ours. Too much snipping and torturing for our liking. Trees, however, full grown and majestic,now they are what we think of as the purest form of gardening.
A football fanatic, now that is not something we should have thought of you. What more hidden secrets are there yet to be discovered we wonder?!!
Have a relaxing weekend!
What exquisite sensibilities you have, Jen, to have discerned so readily that all those adjectives apply to our blogs! A charming thought, my dear.
ReplyDeleteJen... Your post reminded me of Charlotte's Web... :)I could just see you musing over appropriate adjectives! As far !!! I tend to do that too! But in this one dimensionial world of words on a screen, it is simply a must. A weakness of mine is the use of ... But then that just indicates "I'm thinkging" or "there's more to the story"... can mean lots of different things! To borrow a quote from Goose "I think it's T double-E double-R double-R double-I double-F double-I double C, C, C!" that you share your store, your thoughts... and then you respond to ours! Am pulling for the NY Giants... since my Atlanta Falcons had such a dismal showing in the playoffs... Oh well, there's always next year! ENJOY!!!!!
ReplyDeleteWell you'll be happy to know I am throwing my considerable weight behind the Giants for Sunday.
ReplyDeleteIt won't be a cosy game and Brady will attempt to look as fetching as possible BUT I think Eli will lead the team to victory using cunning and enchanting moves.
xo jane
Kat--you, with your positive, enthusiastic personality can get away with multiple exclamation points. And I would like to add a few to that sentence to show you how much I mean it, but then I would look like a hypocrite. What have I done?
ReplyDeleteHaricot--thank you for three more words to add to my list. Your posts of the enchanting parks and mountains and lakes you visit in Japan show me that you and I enjoy nature in its natural form.
Demie--I felt that smile all the way from Noway--thank you, my friend. (I'm missing exclamation points...)
Jane and Lance--I agree with you about bonsai. It is the opposite of what I enjoy. I think yesterday's fascination with it is similar to my fleeting desires to have a sophisticated store with nine carefully curated items in them. Are shopkeepers now called curators in England? That is all the rage here. As for hidden secrets there are many. That's why I'm always ducking those "seven things you don't know about me" assignments.
Mise--for you I will add "witty" and "pink" to the list.
Susan--Charlotte's Web is one of my favorite books. I also use ... a lot. And in this subset of writing--comments--exclamation points really are more acceptable than in other areas. They convey enthusiasm and affection in a quick and easy way. And with so many wonderful blogs out there, who has time to compose perfect paragraphs? What a good sport you are pulling for the Giants--I don't think that will be the position of most Falcons fans this year.
Jane--What a good sport you are! (Much thought went into my use of that !) I hope you are right--I'm not as confident as you are. It is very strange to be a Giants fan in Boston...
I'm a Gemini, too. it's the best. I say we are totally under-appreciated!!!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteand as to !!!!! xxxx :) :) :) and love love love - I use them all the time, too, and I do mean them every single time!!!
xxx
It's so hard to write original comments with fresh words. I use "love" and "beautiful" too much, but I love your idea of a list and I am going to work on expanding my comment vocabulary also! But I am not in the least bit offended if you use the word "love" and too many exclamation points (is that even possible?). It makes me happy!
ReplyDeleteSadly, I've never gotten football and don't see what others do in watching the game on television. Now if I could afford to bet, it might be fun.
ReplyDeleteIt's the same with Zen meditation. I don't get how people have the discipline for it. Within 15 minutes of trying to meditate, I'm always peeking out to see what everyone else is doing.
Regardless, I hope your team wins Jen!
I have tried to keep a few bonsai's alive, but they always start to turn brown and eventually die. Not to mention I dare not trim them! I think that is a big part of the fun trimming and wiring them so they form the wonderful twisted branches and the wide fat trunk, over many many years.
ReplyDeleteI meditated regularly, when I worked in the city, it helped me to stay calm LOL. I used to meditate for half an hour every morning before work and each evening. I think if you lead a stressful life, or work in that environment it can help greatly. If you already have a very peaceful life, just going for a walk and practicing not thinking in your head and instead observing nature IS a great meditation. There is also breathing meditation and chanting can be good.
I like walking meditation best.
Hugs Lorraine
Petra--the fact that I am so thoroughly a gemini allows me to retain some belief in astrology. I can see that I will have to re-think my position on !!! and "love". I don't know why I ever bother taking positions as I am constantly re-thinking them.
ReplyDeleteRubye--I was a long-time baseball fan, but only started watching football because my oldest son was hooked. And then I got hooked. As for meditation, I am so easily distracted and selectively disciplined that I have never been able to stick with it. It's something I admire from afar. I was very impressed with how lively and intelligent the people at the zen center are.
Lorraine--I love the phrase "walking meditation". I do need my daily walks--they are the times when some of my best ideas pop up.
Delightful word list!
ReplyDelete