{"id":352,"date":"2011-10-03T08:34:20","date_gmt":"2011-10-03T16:34:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/zenjones.bravoecho.net\/?p=352"},"modified":"2011-10-03T08:34:20","modified_gmt":"2011-10-03T16:34:20","slug":"nightly-reflection","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zenjones.bravoecho.net\/?p=352","title":{"rendered":"Nightly reflection"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Nightly<\/a>I think I’ve had “Nightly Reflection<\/a>” on my list of added practices for Practice Period for at least three years, but every time I’ve tried it I’ve fallen asleep within seconds. Last night, I managed to stay awake, and follow the instructions.<\/p>\n

And today was pretty amazing. It was just like Ezra says in Beyond Happiness: “…as we become more attuned to what is happening during the day, these moments begin to stand out, and gratitude is more likely to arise in the present moment.”<\/p>\n

It’s been happening all day. Just now, as I was reading in the bedroom (not<\/em> watching television), I heard the dishwasher go on, and my heart swelled with gratitude for the dishwasher, for my husband for running it, for the happy mundanity that is my morning when I empty it.<\/p>\n

Here is a poem I have lately fallen in love with that seems as much about gratitude as love to me:<\/p>\n

Aimless Love<\/strong><\/p>\n

This morning\u00a0as I walked along the lakeshore,
\nI fell in love with a wren
\nand later in the day with a mouse
\nthe cat had dropped under the dining room table.<\/p>\n

In the shadows of an autumn evening,
\nI fell for a seamstress
\nstill at her machine in the tailor\u2019s window,
\nand later for a bowl of broth,
\nsteam rising like smoke from a naval battle.<\/p>\n

This is the best kind of love, I thought,
\nwithout recompense, without gifts,
\nor unkind words, without suspicion,
\nor silence on the telephone.<\/p>\n

The love of the chestnut,
\nthe jazz cap and one hand on the wheel.<\/p>\n

No lust, no slam of the door \u2013
\nthe love of the miniature orange tree,
\nthe clean white shirt, the hot evening shower,
\nthe highway that cuts across Florida.<\/p>\n

No waiting, no huffiness, or rancor \u2013
\njust a twinge every now and then<\/p>\n

for the wren who had built her nest
\non a low branch overhanging the water
\nand for the dead mouse,
\nstill dressed in its light brown suit.<\/p>\n

But my heart is always propped up
\nin a field on its tripod,
\nready for the next arrow.<\/p>\n

After I carried the mouse by the tail
\nto a pile of leaves in the woods,
\nI found myself standing at the bathroom sink
\ngazing down affectionately at the soap,<\/p>\n

so patient and soluble,
\nso at home in its pale green soap dish.
\nI could feel myself falling again
\nas I felt its turning in my wet hands
\nand caught the scent of lavender and stone.<\/p>\n

~ Billy Collins ~<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I think I’ve had “Nightly Reflection” on my list of added practices for Practice Period for at least three years, but every time I’ve tried it I’ve fallen asleep within seconds. Last night, I managed to stay awake, and follow the instructions. And today was pretty amazing. It was just like Ezra says in Beyond […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-352","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-gratitude","category-practice-period"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/zenjones.bravoecho.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/352","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/zenjones.bravoecho.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/zenjones.bravoecho.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zenjones.bravoecho.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zenjones.bravoecho.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=352"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/zenjones.bravoecho.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/352\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/zenjones.bravoecho.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=352"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zenjones.bravoecho.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=352"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zenjones.bravoecho.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=352"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}