Meditation XIII : Letters & Pictures

"Rolling the bamboo blind, I
Look out at the world - what change!
Should someone ask what I've discovered,
I'll smash this whisk against his mouth.

All's harmony, yet everything is separate.
Once confirmed, mastery is yours.
Long I hovered on the Middle Way,
Today the very ice shoots flame."
Chokei


Today I was happy.

While I was walking to work this morning I noticed that my legs felt stronger, especially in the hips. When I ran across a busy street I felt like my old self - light and fast.

When I got home from work I took Maggie to the arboretum and we ran around the 1/2 mile field. I was able to run the field 6 times, which is double what I had been doing. I even wore Maggie out because, feeling so exuberant, I could not control my pace and ended up running faster than I should have.

After the run I did 3 sets of strength exercises and the special hip stretches.

Today gives me confidence that I am going to get over this. I felt kind of smart today because I figured out how to treat this odd injury. However, it is too early to be giving myself a pat on the back, I will wait until I can run the South Farms, then I will celebrate by eating a Jimmy John's sandwich :)

My 13 days of silent meditation have come to an end. I made some progress and hope to continue meditating everyday, although it will not be as easy since I won't be living alone.

I will pick up Rachel at the airport tomorrow.

After I finish writing this entry I will bake a cake for her.

More old letters and pictures found today :

After my run today I recalled Wim Wender's film Lisbon Story. The main character has his foot in a cast for the first half of the story. When his foot finally heals and he sheds his cast, he is exuberant and celebrates by doing a dance with a big smile on his face!

Here is a beautiful segment from that film :