Always Starting Over

The Beginner's Mind (Ending With a Writing Prompt)

You may have heard the phrase “beginner’s mind” before. A concept that comes from Zen Buddhism, shoshin encourages openness, enthusiasm, and rejecting preconceived notions about how you think something should be. (This is a simplified explanation—I am not a Buddhist.) Many recent books on creativity, including Rick Rubin’s book mentioned in my last post, discuss this concept as a bedrock of creative practice, but the older I get, the more I find it can apply to almost anything.

Nourish beginnings, let us nourish beginnings.
Not all things are blest, but the
seeds of all things are blest.
The blessing is in the seed.

Muriel Rukeyser - from "Elegy in Joy"

Many physical activities that used to be easy or enjoyable for me now cause pain and discomfort. This requires that I approach them as a beginner. I used to run half marathons. Now I run/walk two to three miles and then walk to cool down. I used to spend three to four hours on yard work. Now, the arthritis in my hands and issues with my back have me doling it out in smaller segments. One bag of weeds. Just the weed whipping/trimming. This way, I complete a task and don’t view it as failure.

Let me run
at break-neck speeds toward sceneries
of doubt. I have no more dress rehearsals
to attend. 

Major Jackson from "Let Me Begin Again"

When my mind was occupied by work/teaching concerns, I had very little time to think about anything other than my job. Now I do have time to spend on other intellectual pursuits - reading, working puzzles, deep reading for writing reviews, taking courses, and taking notes. But being retired also leaves a lot of room for my mind to wander, and when it wanders, it often reruns things I’d rather not dwell on. The last months with my parents instead of all the happy times with them. Situations with family and friends that worry me though I have no control over their outcomes. I need to retrain how my mind is occupied during quiet moments of the day—when I’m walking or lying in bed trying to fall asleep. I want to approach my mind’s engagement as purposefully as my body’s.

Here’s a new green vein, another
clutch to take, give, a handful of seconds.

Dora Malech from "Each year"

Whether it’s trying a new poetic form (a Markov sonnet is next on my list) or continuing to make visual art in an attempt to develop a personal style, being a continuous learner is crucial. Getting older doesn’t have to be about endings. Each day, each week, each year, each risk, each attempt can be a beginning. A new experience. A chance to reinvent yourself. In my new collection, there is a line in one of the poems that says, “Discard. Discard. Begin again.” Turn the page. Get rid of the cards that don’t serve a purpose. Pull from the deck and see what happens.

PROMPT:

Re-read the poetry excerpts included in this post. Use the images of seeds, dress rehearsals, and veins to write about a new beginning or an attempt at something that you have been unsure about. Alternately, use the same images to talk about closure or the end of something. Or do both!