I’m striving every day to be better; a better person, a better wife, a better friend, a better artist, a better human…. Recently, I started taking in the writings of Pema Chodron, a wonderful author who I learned of through a beautiful friend Anna Bonick of Hullabaloo Photo. I was awakened from a sense of mundane to find there were teachings on how to live gentle, compassionate, and open. These concepts are not new, but they are fresh. And they are something I deeply crave. One passage from the book Start Where You Are really struck me.

There’s  a Zen Story in which a man is enjoying himself on a river at dusk. He sees another boat coming down the river toward him. At first it seems so nice to him that someone else is enjoying the river on a nice summer evening. Then he realizes that the boat is coming right toward him, faster and faster. He begins to get upset and starts to yell, “Hey, hey, watch out! For Pete’s sake, turn aside!” But the boat just comes faster and faster, right toward him. By this time he’s standing up in his boat, screaming and shaking his fist, and then the boat smashes right into him. He sees that it’s an empty boat.

In life, there are all these moments that can wake us up and make us aware of everything around us. We spend so much time seeing only little bits of the world around us. We miss the truly wonderful ordinary moments that occur. It’s in these moments that life happens. So the next time an empty boat crashes into you (be it a honking car horn, a spoon that falls to the floor, or a doorbell that breaks the silence of the day) think of it as an opportunity to wake up and see what’s around you. Be thoughtful, be grateful, be present…

We’ve heard it before… “less is more.”
So why are so many of us today concerned with just more? We are constantly thinking of how we can get more things for less money (even if that means sacrificing quality). We want to get more money for less work. Companies want to have their employees work more for less money/incentive/support (especially if that means sacrificing quality). This is a time of “more is less” and it feels rather cold. I, myself, am over this. I yearn for the time when less was definitely more… more satisfying, more fulfilling, more interaction, more closeness, more meaningful. I crave the moment when the little things such as home cooked meals with family every night were the staple, and a little house was filled with the big personality and warmth of the family that lived in it.

I just read a great little article (written by Shax Riegler for the July/August print of House Beautiful) on the tiny house movement… it was inspiring. Within this article, ‘Anonymous’ was quoted…

“May your home always be too small to hold all of your friends.”

This statement struck me…down to my very being. I want ‘less’… and I want it to be so full of meaningful that it’s stitches are bursting. No more gigantic houses filled with rooms that will never be filled with the whispers of moments come and gone. I want less label and more comfort and quality. I want less acquaintance and more friendship and true connection.

That is my thought for today; no pictures… just humble, personal conversation.