Working on it

Here they are ... 150 origami cranes, made by my own hands. Progress toward the goal of senbazuru (1,000 cranes in 100 days).

Believe it or not, those 30 minutes spent folding colored squares of paper have become a favorite part of each day. It's calming, it's simple -- and I just plain like doing it. The rest of my life is so complex, so rushed and noisy and mindless. But at least for that half-hour, I know I will have some peace. And I look forward to it.

As for anger, this project has it very much on my mind these days. So I've become a tiny bit more observant, I think, of the arising of anger. This is a core practice of Buddhist meditation, watching the arising of phenomena -- whether emotions, mind states or bodily sensations. And of course, the better I become at noticing the arising of anger's white heat, the better chance I'll have (theoretically) at catching it before it overtakes me.

I'm working on it ... just as I'm working on the cranes.