My Zen Place is...

 Many years ago, I was about 10 or 11 years old I think, my Step Father, Henry, decided that I was to be the family dishwasher after dinner every night. To say that I found this idea repulsive would be a bit of an understatement. I found it that and horrifying.

So I made an instant, and emotional, not intellectual, decision that I was not going to do this. I already had major resentments and was defiant as all get out.

I did not make a huge and noisy scene about it, I was much "quieter" than that. I would stand in front of that sink full of dishes for hours and literally not touch one.

And Henry would observe me to make sure that I did not sneak away or that no one stepped in to help me in any way.

Was a very quietly run battle that was in effect very loud. Everyone was very aware of what was going on.

And, I am sure, was a lot of baffled frustration and feeling powerless over this whole thing. Probably some trying to figure out how this was even going on.

All unspoken. We never, that I recall, spoke about any of this. Or anything else.

After a while he would go to bed and my Mother would come down and snarl at me to go to bed and do the dishes.

This whole thing was massively unfair to her.

This went on for a few years. He would not give up and neither would I. Two VERY stubborn people.

And many years later a funny thing happened. I was washing dishes at the house of this woman I was seeing, she had three kids and a lot of dishes, and I realized that when my hands were washing dishes in a sink full of soapy water, I was at peace. I was not thinking or stressing or anything else, I was just washing dishes and nothing else. It was, and still is, a Zen space for me.

I laugh today and call that Henry's Revenge 😂

Today I have a Zen space when out tooling around on my Motorcycle. I am just riding. Not thinking about too much, not stressing about stuff, just riding.

And funny things happen. On Saturday I was out tooling around and in the late afternoon I was going thru Claremont, not by design, the roads just went there. As I was passing by an Auto dealership I saw a motorcycle with a for sale sign on it and turned around to look at it.

It had a sign that said "Enquire Inside". I went in and a person asked if they could help me and I told them I wanted to talk about the bike and they said the guy that I needed to talk to was busy and should be free in a few minutes.

So I am standing there waiting and I see one of the sales people walking towards a copier and said "Zeke?"

He turned around and sure enough it was my Nephew Zeke. He hugged and asked me what I was doing and I told him about turning around because I spotted a motorcycle and he laughed and said "Of course you did".

So being in the moment, in that Zen space, allowed me to unexpectedly catch up with a family member. I was just present without an agenda or need to get anywhere, so I could just turn around and thus be pleasantly surprised by Fam.

And yesterday, Sunday, I was tooling around on my bike again, I went about 270 miles thru Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine, and was again at peace and present. New England is Beautiful in the Spring. And while I was going, I had no real agenda and was just present to Beauty.

Being in that Zen place allowed me to be Present to the Beauty around me, which I am not always able to be.

After getting Home last night I got thinking, no longer as dangerous a thing as it used to be, "What if any place can be a Zen place? What if being present and at peace is only my internal state and not tied to a place or activity by anyone or anything except by me? What if Zen is always possible?"

I realize that I am just a little bit late to this party so please pardon my tardiness 😇

And I am seeing that Internal Peace, Tranquility, Being Present, Being Aware, all of these things are Possible at any time in any place. It just takes me to Center Myself within My Self, and Accept Everything as it Is and Is Not. Because it is only from Accepting the Reality that I am in that I can gain any Peace around it. And thus, have any Effect on it in my Life.

So what are YOUR Zen places? What are your Zen experiences? Where do you find Peace and where do you find it hard to find Peace?

I am having that discussion with myself today. Would you care to join me in it?