{"id":1055,"date":"2011-07-24T20:42:02","date_gmt":"2011-07-25T00:42:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/beginnersheart\/?p=1055"},"modified":"2011-07-24T20:42:02","modified_gmt":"2011-07-25T00:42:02","slug":"what-im-learning-on-vacation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/beginnersheart\/2011\/07\/what-im-learning-on-vacation.html","title":{"rendered":"what I’m learning on vacation ~"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’ve been spending time w\/ a five-year-old. It’s been enlightening — literally :). Alysia is one of the best Buddhist masters I know ~ she is teaching me how to see. <\/p>\n

I think I’m pretty observant. Writers — especially poets \ud83d\ude42 — generally are. Birds are individuals to me, as are their songs. And I know leaves and trees and a lot of flowers, even animal tracks. But it turns out that’s not really ‘seeing.’ It’s not being in the moment, if that makes sense…Alysia has taught me that.<\/p>\n

The other day there was a hummingbird outside the doors to the deck. It was hovering at the door, scoping out the fuchsia<\/a> in the corner planter. Alysia was ecstatic.<\/p>\n

“OMG!” she almost screamed in delight. “I never saw a real hummingbird in my whole life!<\/em>” This is her standard response to so many things I take for granted that I’m rethinking most things — not just seeing. She proceeded to draw the dun-colored female hummer from the moment’s glance the hover offered. <\/p>\n

The drawing looked amazingly like a hummingbird, especially for a five-year-old. In that brief moment, Alysia had absorbed its colour, the curved beak, the stubby body and the slender wings. How did she do that? I can’t imagine trying to draw a hummer from memory. <\/p>\n

And that’s part of the problem. I can’t imagine even trying. Why not? What happens between 5 and 10×5 to change our attitudes? Why wouldn’t I try? Who’s judging me? Who cares??<\/em><\/p>\n

Thanks to my five-year-old Zen mistress, I am trying to really be present. I am trying to see a hummingbird, a snake, a leaf and a piece of blue Playdoh as clearly and with as little baggage as possible. I can’t tell you how many books, articles, essays etc. I’ve read on ‘being here, now.’ But it took a five-year-old to show me. You have to have a truly open mind: you have to stop ‘thinking about’ and be. It’s so much harder than it sounds…<\/p>\n

So thank you, Alysia. I may actually remember this time \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’ve been spending time w\/ a five-year-old. It’s been enlightening — literally :). Alysia is one of the best Buddhist masters I know ~ she is teaching me how to see. I think I’m pretty observant. Writers — especially poets \ud83d\ude42 — generally are. Birds are individuals to me, as are their songs. And I…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":398,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[11,1181,1187,81],"class_list":["post-1055","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-buddhism","tag-beginners-heart","tag-britton-gildersleeve","tag-buddhism","tag-enlightenment"],"yoast_head":"\nwhat I'm learning on vacation ~ - Beginner's Heart<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I've been spending time w\/ a five-year-old. It's been enlightening -- literally :). 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