Flight Into Reality

This is it. There are no hidden meanings. All that mystical stuff is just what's so. - Werner Erhard in the Zen Calendar (May 13, 2006).

Day 126. I sure needed today to contain more than 24 hours. Protracting time is something I have not yet mastered.

I just spent two hours perfecting - and I use the term lightly - a Power Point Presentation for a conference on Thursday. I concentrated so deeply, the Monkeys couldn't get a word in edgewise. This would be a beautiful thing if I wasn't absolutely certain that they are lurking in the wings of my consciousness, waiting to pounce the moment my butt hits the cushion. Tricky creatures, those primates!

This week stretches before me like Route 66 beckoning the Joads westward. I feel about as prepared to go the distance as they were. When I committed to be the keynote speaker at this conference about a year ago, I'm pretty sure I didn't anticipate that it would come on the heels of kicking major butt at a tandem rally. I know for sure that I didn't plan on being the only clinician at my practice this week. Perhaps my colleagues and I should revisit the ramifications of two or more of us vacationing together. It is a little daunting to be the one left minding the store.

My analyst used to call appropriately responding to the demands of a week like this a "flight into reality" (as opposed to the more common psychological terms of "flight into fantasy" or "schizophrenic flight.") At the time, he probably didn't know he was describing a good Zen practice - i.e. stay grounded in reality and deal with it accordingly, rather than spinning out into the emotional stratosphere. I think there are times when it is extremely adaptive to take an aisle seat on the Reality Flight. It is a ticket to clear-headed focus and efficiency that is conducive to getting a lot done. Sometimes a week comes around asking for an extraordinarily large hunk out of us. I recommend keeping these weeks to a minimum. When they occasionally creep up, however, catch the Flight into Reality rather than taking a ride on the Crazy Train.

Today's flight is about to land for me. It's been a bumpy ride. Luckily, I always have a cushion.

Gassho,
CycleBuddhaDoc