Zen Master John Daido Loori | Tuesdays with Laurie

I enjoy writing and photography (and of course, I love red licorice).

My next book, Indelible: A Sean McPherson Novel, Book One, takes place in the Zen-like wooded acres surrounding Pines & Quill, a writing retreat in the Pacific Northwest. And while Pines & Quill is fictitious, the historic Fairhaven district of Bellingham, WA, where the story takes place is very real. In fact, we took a trip there to take photographs for book promotion purposes. If you follow me on Instagram, you’ve seen some of them.

While watching a video of Zen Master John Daido Loori, an incredible photographer and author of Hearing with the Eye: Photographs from Point Lobos, he said:

“The moment is where our life takes place.
We miss the moment—we miss life.”

I realize that the “big picture” is important too, but in my experience, the moment is essential.

Are you more of an “in the moment” or “big picture” person?

You remember Chicken Little, Henny Penny, Foxy Loxy, Turkey Lurkey, and Goosey Loosey. Well…

Monday afternoon I shared with Terrill Welch over at Creative Potager:

“Acorns are falling—thump, thump, thump—and the chipmunks are packing their cheeks as fast as they can and “squirreling” them away. Their faces are so fat it looks like we’ve got a mumps epidemic on our hands!”

I thought it would be fun to try to capture a photograph of an acorn-laden chipmunk face so I laid down under the oak tree in our front yard—camera at the ready.

Just as I got the feeling that I was being watched, a load of acorns rained down on me. Looking up into the tree, here’s what I saw looking back (click on the photo and it will enlarge):

Look in the dead-center, and slightly to the right

Shortly after that, I received an email notifying me that my friend Jeff Stroud of The Reluctant Blogger, had tagged me in a comment on Facebook. So I toggled over there to view a wonderful 8-minute video clip of Zen Master John Daido Loori, author of Zen Photography. Not quite halfway into the clip he said:

“The moment is where our life takes place. We miss the moment—we miss life.”

Hearing that made me doubly glad that I’d taken the time—the moments—to try to see the world from a chipmunk’s point of view, and was instead rewarded with a raccoon smile.

What was the last moment you truly savored?

Listen with your heart,

Laurie Buchanan

“Whatever you are not changing, you are choosing.”
— Laurie Buchanan

Tuesdays with Laurie

"Whatever you are not changing, you are choosing." —Laurie Buchanan

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In the Moment

The Sky is Falling!