Already broken -

On a recent early morning walk, I was delighted by the sights and sounds of my neighborhood. There is much peace, beauty and contentment in my life and surroundings - more than I ever expected in my younger years, and for this I am deeply grateful. But on this lovely day my thoughts shifted to my fears worries concerns about how climate change and our unsustainable abuse of the planet threatens to upend this idyllic life I lead. There is already much suffering of people and other animals occurring because we humans have been unable to restrain our greed and develop wise policies that would allow us all some measure of a good life. The Zen story of the master who tells his guest not to worry about the fragile teacup, because it is already broken, came to mind. It is all impermanent, and on this morning as I enjoyed my walk and looked around, I reminded myself that it is all already gone.

I drink a lot of tea, and am hard on tea pots. Recently I noted with pleasure how this one has served me for more than five years, a few days later I dropped something on the spout. Already broken - I'm glad it is still useable until I find its replacement.

While I was writing this, as an extra test of my equanimity, my computer froze up and I thought I'd lost the whole thing.