Boring Is as Boring Does

Sometimes all we know is that we don't know much. And that is a good start. If you feel like you know everything already, you're not open to learn. That's why, in yoga, we say to cultivate a beginner's mind. I have friends who are amazing practitioners who still approach each pose as if they are doing it for the first time. And they are. We are changing constantly. Our thoughts, perceptions, feelings, are in a constant state of flux and evolution. The conditions around us are also changing all the time. So the "you" that did something yesterday, or even 5 minutes ago, is different than the "you" of this moment. And the moment is different. Everything is always new if you look at it the right way. So whatever you do, do it with your whole heart. (Whole heartedness is the opposite of boredom!) If you live with this outlook, everything you do will be filled with wonder and discovery. You will always be full of curiosity and life will be miraculous.
To quote the Zen scholar Suzuki-Roshi:

"In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert's there are few."

If you see things as "same-old, same old," you will be bored. To paraphrase Forrest Gump, boring is as boring does. Never be bored and you will never be boring.

Here's a poem about having passion, from the amazing David Whyte:

The Opening of Eyes

That day I saw beneath dark clouds
the passing light over the water
and I heard the voice of the world speak out,
I knew then, as I had before
life is no passing memory of what has been
nor the remaining pages in a great book
waiting to be read.

It is the opening of eyes long closed.
It is the vision of far off things
seen for the silence they hold.
It is the heart after years
of secret conversing
speaking out loud in the clear air.

It is Moses in the desert
fallen to his knees before the lit bush.
It is the man throwing away his shoes
as if to enter heaven
and finding himself astonished,
opened at last,
fallen in love with solid ground.

Why?

Little children always ask "why?" And each answer you give leads to "but why?" As adults, we still yearn for the answer to the question, "why?" Why do bad things happen to good people? Why do tragedies like the earthquake in Haiti befall a people already enduring poverty and deprivation? Why? Our quest to explain our universe -- to make some sense of love and loss and good and bad -- seems never ending. We look to the universe -- somebody, something, tell me why. This is how religion and philosophy were born. And we need it. We need something -- some framework -- to help us make sense of it all. As Lama Marut says, "it is not the divine that will save you, but your belief in the divine." For me, the divine is the dharma of yoga. Yoga Sutra 2.21 says: "the seen exists for the sake of the Seer." All that we experience, all that we see, are teachings and tests for our higher self. It is how we respond to these experiences that charts our futures. Thus, a tragedy is not only an urgent reminder of how precious life is, but also an opportunity to access our goodness and compassion in the service of others. In the face of love, loss, good or bad, we have to think, "what is the noblest way to respond?" And we yoke ourselves to that higher path. This is yoga.

Grief

I am grieving. I am grieving in ways I did not even recognize. I am tired all the time. I am overcome with inertia. I am painfully aware of the fine line there is between treasuring each day because it might be the last day, and feeling like nothing really matters because we're all going to die anyway. The line between awareness of love and of all the beauty that surrounds us all the time, and the despair of knowing that it can all disappear in an instant. Sometimes I feel Sharon all around me. I hear her in my head. I feel her in my house. And other times, all I feel is her absence. Where do I turn? Where do I go? I know that life does not exist as we think it does, nor does death. Energy can't be created or destroyed - only changed into another form. Everything we do or say has an effect that will only bear fruit at a some later time. There was a deadly earthquake in Haiti today. Thousands of lives were lost or changed in seconds. It can happen to any one of us at any time. It has happened to me. I miss my friend. I am grieving.