it's all a dream

was reading a book by Pema Chödrön (an American Buddhist nun)this morning on the train, when i got kicked in the face.

i was on the road very early today and the streets of essen and the railcars were all full of revelers making their unsteady way home. on the train a group of eight or so young people were laughing and playing loud music and carrying on just behind me but mostly i ignored them and read my book.

I was reading a chapter where pema explained that everything is a dream - that nothing is worth making a big a deal out of - relax and let it go, she says -

interestingly for me she talked about our desire to always want to "nail it down, to concretize everything, to put it into words" - she says "if you can talk about it, then that aint it." hahaha - funny thoughts for a journalist who tries to nail everything down, to pin the butterfly to the page everyday...

so applying that to meditation she says, whatever thoughts you think, you should just let them go - and then she says: "if it is really an important thought, some memory of it will remain."

okay right after i read that, the kids behind me started really making noise and when i turned to see what was going on, i saw a young man and a young girl hitting and kicking each other - without thinking i jumped right in between them and hauled him off of her - and BAM, she kicked me right in the mouth

after id calmed them down and retaken my seat, out of storytelling habit, i began to memorize the events. the thought actually ran through my head, because i was just starting a long day of adventure, maybe i wont remember this later - and then i felt my lip puffing up and starting to sting, felt the blood running from the side of my mouth and remembered what pema said: if it is really an important thought, some memory of it will remain

yeah, i think ill remember... hahahaha