Thich Nhat Hanh and the yellow roses

One dozen long-stemmed deep yellow roses to be exact; Valentine’s day roses. Not having a large enough vase to accommodate all 12 together, I put 6 in a vase in the living room and 6 on a Chinese step cabinet which I use as a bedside table.

The 6 in the living room lasted a good 5-6 days, not bad for supermarket-bought flowers. The 6 in my bedroom were eerily fresh and unwilted at the end of the second week. Next to the bedside flowers was a photo of Thich Nhat Hanh.

If you don’t know what he looks like, he has the kind of face that is occasionally, and only, seen on long-time Buddhist practitioners. It is unwrinkled. There are no frown lines, no deep vertical clefts on either side of the mouth. He wears a perpetually serene and unsurprised expression. I keep this photo by my bedside because I like to see it when I wake up, before I get out of bed and take on the day. Read more

My Mother’s Garden

Clients come to me in distress and I work with them on Purposeful Living.

In the main, they get it. Sometimes, though, when I get to the part about doing what you need to do when you need to do it, my listeners eyes glaze over and I know I’ve lost them. I get the response that it doesn’t seem like much “fun” to find your purpose and do what you need to do. In fact, it sounds rather Calvinistic. It sounds like trudging uphill in the rain with your head down – oblivious to your surroundings.

“Where’s the joy?”, someone asked once. “What about fun and having a good time?”.
I never really knew how to respond except to assure my listener that I do have a lot of fun and joy in life and I enjoy getting my purpose accomplished.

Sometimes, I tell them about my mother’s garden.

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