I saw friends play the other night. Yeah, I actually went out. I’ve played with them a lot, but this is the first time I sat out front and watched, and listened. I experienced it with new eyes, -new ears really- and saw them from a fresh perspective, as if seeing them for the first time. Shoshin!
While discussing money hangups with a friend, it was brought up that many folks carry lifelong preconceived ideas about money. I’ve worked with some to help move those ideas that do not serve them out of the way. This conversation caused a fresh light to be shined on my own ideas. Shoshin!
How cool is it to be a tourist guide in the area you live to someone who has not been here before? You get to see your city, the one you’ve gotten used to with new, fresh eyes. Shoshin!
Shoshin, or beginner’s mind, is the art of experiencing that which you’ve experienced before as if it were the first time. The goal, and our challenge, is to put preconceptions on the shelf and act like we don’t know, so we can see the world from a place of freshness and openness. It’s as if we see the world through the awe and the wonderment of the eyes of a child. Everything is new, fresh, magical.
What if we were to look at our world through the eyes -the mind- of shoshin? We would generally be more upbeat, more joyous, more alive. We would see many different perspectives of our world and we’d be able to make better more conscious decisions because we aren’t encumbered by what we think we know based on past experiences. Fresh eyes. Shoshin!
This brings to mind the childlike magic of our holiday season, The first, and the biggest, of course, is the childlike belief in Santa Claus. We used to believe in flying reindeer and a big guy with a beard in a red suit delivering toys to everybody in the world in one night. Remember the look of anticipation on the faces of little kids Christmas morning, and it gets better they go downstairs? Remember your own experience? That’s magical.
In a more grown-up way, I think the original idea of Thanksgiving has a little bit of that magical quality to it. Picture this. People from 2 different parts of the world, two completely different cultures, two completely different languages, actually getting along, helping each other out, then sitting down for a big meal to celebrate it. There’s absolutely magic in that.
Isn’t that the kind of magical world you’d like to live in? I know I would.
Just sayin’