The last third of the year seems like a good time to share some of the daily senryu I write and share on social media. I call them \u201czentao\u201d with the intent of echoing both the spiritual traditions of Zen Buddhism and Taoism as well as the more western joke \u201cthat was Zen, this is Tao.\u201d<\/p>\n
Like many people, I started the year with a resolution:<\/p>\n
Do your little bit
\nto fix our broken systems.
\nAlso, enjoy life.<\/p><\/blockquote>\nI must confess that I have not done as much to address either of those resolutions as I would have liked. The broken systems are still ascendant and at times they affect my ability to enjoy my life.<\/p>\n
My verse for January 1 was also about finding the good things. It\u2019s a good one to remember when you\u2019re confronted with options:<\/p>\n
Doors open and shut.
\nGo through ones that lead to joy.
\nSlam the others hard.<\/p><\/blockquote>\nA lot of my posts are social commentary of some kind, which is in part why they fit better under the term senryu than haiku, even though they have the same syllable count. Haiku are traditionally more about nature; senryu have room for sarcastic comment on things that are happening now.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s a sarcastic one:<\/p>\n
Nothing\u2019s working right.
\nPhone. Weather. Health care. Housing.
\nAnd, of course, Congress.<\/p><\/blockquote>\nAnd here\u2019s one that recognizes the importance of imagining that something can be done about the problems we face:<\/p>\n
First we imagine
\ncapitalism will end.
\nThen we can do it.<\/p><\/blockquote>\nAnd another about the power of imagination:<\/p>\n
Now is the time to
\nuse our imaginations
\nand remake the world.<\/p><\/blockquote>\nHere are a couple that get at my core philosophical beliefs, drawn from Aikido and other studies. I strongly believe that all the life on Earth evolved to be in balance with each other and our planet, and that centering ourselves in relation to that is how we end up with happy lives.<\/p>\n
Living in balance.
\nIt\u2019s not to be virtuous.
\nIt\u2019s how all life works.<\/p>\nRe-enchant the world.
\nFind the harmonies of Earth.
\nStay centered with that.<\/p><\/blockquote>\nAnd here is my response to the way far too many people with some power in this world approach things:<\/p>\n
No one gets wealthy
\nby fixing our real problems,
\nso they don\u2019t get fixed.<\/p><\/blockquote>\nAnd the frequent reminder that humans are social creatures:<\/p>\n
Working with others
\ncan be hard, but it\u2019s also
\nhow we get things done.<\/p><\/blockquote>\nThis one might be more of a haiku. It was inspired by driving down to San Diego from the Bay Area after our very wet winter:<\/p>\n
Snow on coastal peaks.
\nGreen hills and flowing rivers.
\nFlowers everywhere.<\/p><\/blockquote>\nAnd then this one from the way back home after another storm rolled in. Note that it is impossible to get from San Diego to Oakland without crossing mountains at some point unless you go along the coast. The coastal highway was flooded, and there was snow in the mountains we had to cross, so we went way east to the desert and then angled back west to cross the mountains when things cleared. The geography of California is fascinating, but not meant for travel in bad weather.<\/p>\n
Winter storm travel:
\nGreen desert, flooded highways,
\navoiding trouble.<\/p><\/blockquote>\nAnd a combination of weather and politics:<\/p>\n
High winds. Heavy rain.
\nGlad to get home and inside.
\nSome folks live outside.<\/p><\/blockquote>\nSome political advice from Aikido:<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t struggle and fight
\nwhere the opponent is strong.
\nFind their weakest point.<\/p><\/blockquote>\nAnd here\u2019s a good one to end on:<\/p>\n
I\u2019m always waiting
\nfor another shoe to drop.
\nLife in modern times.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The last third of the year seems like a good time to share some of the daily senryu I write and share on social media. I call them \u201czentao\u201d with the intent of echoing both the spiritual traditions of Zen Buddhism and Taoism as well as the more western joke \u201cthat was Zen, this is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[56],"tags":[186,185],"class_list":["post-2929","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-life-experiences","tag-senryu","tag-zentao"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/treehousewriters.com\/wp53\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2929","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/treehousewriters.com\/wp53\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/treehousewriters.com\/wp53\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/treehousewriters.com\/wp53\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/treehousewriters.com\/wp53\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2929"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/treehousewriters.com\/wp53\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2929\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2930,"href":"https:\/\/treehousewriters.com\/wp53\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2929\/revisions\/2930"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/treehousewriters.com\/wp53\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2929"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/treehousewriters.com\/wp53\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2929"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/treehousewriters.com\/wp53\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2929"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}