A Different Kind of Circle

Dear Daughter,

It has been a long time since Papa wrote on your Blog, although we have done so, so many things since the last time. We have been to Texas and New Mexico this summer and did many Papa and Buglette things that I will try to write about soon, even though they are already becoming distant memories since we are back in Belgium and you have begun school again. You will be learning new things and we will be able to share that magic of learning together.

Papa is also always learning new things, such as this weekend.

Papa met a very special person named Kazuaki Tanahashi, but he likes to just go by "Kaz," which is much easier to remember.

He is an artist whose specialty is the zen circle, or "ensõ" in Japanese. It is an imperfect circle that reminds us of the imperfections in life. In other words, the sooner we accept that things will not be "perfect," then we will live a much happier life and will be able to learn without fear.

I hope you get to meet Kaz one day. I think you would really like him.

But, Papa got the next best thing and bought one of his works so you can see how magical the ensõ is. Here is a picture for now until Papa can pick it up.

Remember, as you tell Papa, "nobody is good in everything, but everyone is good at something..."

I Love You,
Papa

Zen and the Art of Being A Quiver

Papa helped teach Emma how to shoot a bow and arrow yesterday and today. She was very good, and you and Ford asked if you could try. I asked each of you to be one of our "living quivers" and to hold our arrows as we practiced with the bows that were to big for little kids. However, you and Ford were a very important part of the process, retrieving the arrows and holding them for us and handing them to us as well. Most important, you learned how important it is to be patient while someone else is learning something new and that although you did not get to shoot the arrow today, you were still part of the experience.

Eat, Drink, Sleep

One of the precepts of Zen is that you eat when you are hungry, drink when you are thirsty, and sleep when you are tired. However, sometimes our bodies are a little out of synch with the world around us, like when we travel across the big Ocean from Belgium to Texas, and we have to learn to adjust our bodies' telegraph messages to us to get into the groove. For a couple days then, our Zen is how to make those adjustments.