Today there’s an all-day retreat at the Zendo, and I’m planning to go. I’m having the same internal struggle I often have on retreat days -- part of me wants to skip it and go walking in the sunshine, and go to the diner for breakfast, and read, and maybe run some errands. But the other part of me recognizes that I really need to go to reconnect with my practice.
It really makes a difference to go to a retreat, or sesshin, as opposed to just two hours of sitting. I always feel so good when I emerge -- more intimate with the people I practice beside, and more mindful of practice itself. Yet I always have this little struggle beforehand to get motivated.
Part of my struggle is stage fright. I usually get assigned some role in the services, and I always wonder what it will be, and whether I’ll do it right. I wish I could just go and sit, frankly, but I guess we all have to do our part to make the machine function!
At any rate, on a completely different note, I have to tell you:
1. The arrow mystery I mentioned a few days ago has been solved.
2. The rabbit has been erased.
3. Kim recently posted one of my all-time favorite comedy skits to her blog, so I thought I’d share it as well -- Monty Python’s “Salad Days.” (Not for the faint-hearted!)
(Photo: Williamsburg, Brooklyn, March 2009)
The rabbit was erased? What a shame. Though ... nothing is permanent, as you are no doubt thinking right now on your retreat. At least you got a pic before it was wiped off the whiteboard.
ReplyDeleteYou're back!!!!!
ReplyDelete(confetti falls from the ceiling)
Mazel tov!
I'm sure you went to the retreat and performed your role perfectly. I hope it was worth giving up a nice spring day for. I'm sorry the rabbit is gone, but am guessing that rabbit might come back as two or more (you know how rabbits are). I'm glad to find out the truth about the arrow. He probably couldn't have hit the woman if he had been trying to, but what an awful shock for her!
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