The Bro's got game
I was doing my daily blog reading, which do mostly on my blackberry now since I'm never really in front of the computer anymore with just massive amounts of surf time, and I clicked on a link I had bookmarked and started to read. Since I didn't have the benefit of all the telltail signs of page layout and pictures, I was just reading along enjoying the post trying to figure out which one of my blogging friends this was, when it struck me---this is my brother's blog!
He's done lots of little posts with funny bits and good little stories of the family. But this time he sat back and got all reflective and stuff. I knew he had it in him if he just gave himself the chance. I think he finally caught the blogger grove.
So I just had to repost it here so no one would miss it. He's always commenting on what great respect he has for the writing I do over on my blog, whenever we get together. Well, right back at you bro.
Here it is:
The Zen of Mowing
Tonight I engaged in an activity that I'm sure was shared by many of the millions of homeowners in this country. I mowed my lawn. Now I truly love to mow my lawn. I know that may sound strange to some of you and I can here the wisecracks about how this fulfills my primal urge to dominate my domain or how the use of power tools is an pathetic attempt by men to compensate for something they are lacking. I guarantee you that mowing does neither. Those things I save for my 12cc gas powered weed whacker. No, mowing has a much more refined purpose that I finally discovered tonight.
Mowing has taken on a somewhat different characteristic this summer. You see, I received an iPod for my birthday this year and have discovered the wonderful world of podcasting. I have about a dozen programs that I download on a regular basis, mostly news and politics, and I have thoroughly enjoyed listening to these as I mow. There is something quite satisfying about learning about things such as governmental corruption and Iranian President "I'm-a-damn-nut-job" and his nuclear yearnings while at the same time chopping the heads off of innocent blades of grass. It just seems fitting.
However tonight, for some reason, I didn't grab my iPod when I went to mow. It was in the midst of my stroll through my lawn, hearing the drone of the mower, smelling fresh cut grass, that it hit me. Mowing is meditation. It is the modern American version of the Zen rock garden. You know, the rectangle spaces that they fill with small rocks and pebbles and then put a boulder in the middle. Then they take a rake and make various geometrical patterns in the rocks, working their way to the boulder in the middle, where they sit and meditate. The process and the product are said to be quite meditative.
I realized how very similar mowing is to this concept. I am making geometrical patterns making my way to the swing set in the middle of my lawn and once I finish I will sit on my deck and meditate with a 12 ounce beverage (probably Pepsi). When all was said and done I realized the allure that mowing holds for me. It is one of the few activities in my life that is mindless and repetitive enough to afford me an opportunity just to think. Think about things that are happening, things I want to happen, things that are bothering me and things that are good. I can have creative thoughts, spiritual thoughts, or just plain weird thoughts. And when I am done I have something that looks nice.
This has been missing this summer because I have been filling my mind with information instead of trying to process all the things of my life. Everywhere around me is activity and music and various other stimuli that inhibits this meditative state. There is one other place in my life where I pause long enough to relieve the urge to think, but that place is usually reserved for reading. I don't know if all this means I will stop using my iPod whenever I mow. I don't think so. But it did awaken me to the need I have to be unplugged and alone with myself inside my head.
He's done lots of little posts with funny bits and good little stories of the family. But this time he sat back and got all reflective and stuff. I knew he had it in him if he just gave himself the chance. I think he finally caught the blogger grove.
So I just had to repost it here so no one would miss it. He's always commenting on what great respect he has for the writing I do over on my blog, whenever we get together. Well, right back at you bro.
Here it is:
The Zen of Mowing
Tonight I engaged in an activity that I'm sure was shared by many of the millions of homeowners in this country. I mowed my lawn. Now I truly love to mow my lawn. I know that may sound strange to some of you and I can here the wisecracks about how this fulfills my primal urge to dominate my domain or how the use of power tools is an pathetic attempt by men to compensate for something they are lacking. I guarantee you that mowing does neither. Those things I save for my 12cc gas powered weed whacker. No, mowing has a much more refined purpose that I finally discovered tonight.
Mowing has taken on a somewhat different characteristic this summer. You see, I received an iPod for my birthday this year and have discovered the wonderful world of podcasting. I have about a dozen programs that I download on a regular basis, mostly news and politics, and I have thoroughly enjoyed listening to these as I mow. There is something quite satisfying about learning about things such as governmental corruption and Iranian President "I'm-a-damn-nut-job" and his nuclear yearnings while at the same time chopping the heads off of innocent blades of grass. It just seems fitting.
However tonight, for some reason, I didn't grab my iPod when I went to mow. It was in the midst of my stroll through my lawn, hearing the drone of the mower, smelling fresh cut grass, that it hit me. Mowing is meditation. It is the modern American version of the Zen rock garden. You know, the rectangle spaces that they fill with small rocks and pebbles and then put a boulder in the middle. Then they take a rake and make various geometrical patterns in the rocks, working their way to the boulder in the middle, where they sit and meditate. The process and the product are said to be quite meditative.
I realized how very similar mowing is to this concept. I am making geometrical patterns making my way to the swing set in the middle of my lawn and once I finish I will sit on my deck and meditate with a 12 ounce beverage (probably Pepsi). When all was said and done I realized the allure that mowing holds for me. It is one of the few activities in my life that is mindless and repetitive enough to afford me an opportunity just to think. Think about things that are happening, things I want to happen, things that are bothering me and things that are good. I can have creative thoughts, spiritual thoughts, or just plain weird thoughts. And when I am done I have something that looks nice.
This has been missing this summer because I have been filling my mind with information instead of trying to process all the things of my life. Everywhere around me is activity and music and various other stimuli that inhibits this meditative state. There is one other place in my life where I pause long enough to relieve the urge to think, but that place is usually reserved for reading. I don't know if all this means I will stop using my iPod whenever I mow. I don't think so. But it did awaken me to the need I have to be unplugged and alone with myself inside my head.
posted by Will at 11:58 AM
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