Lazy Day

On Mondays in the Plum Village Tradition, we practice "Lazy Day."

The object is to not plan anything ahead of time, to do whatever you want to do in the moment, and if it presents itself, to get lost in your favorite thing all day. If you can handle it, they encourage you to be "utterly useless." 🤣 Some make music or draw, some hike, some lay in a hammock and read all day... then Monday evening, we all get together for something called a Happiness Meeting. When Thay Nhat Hahn developed this schedule, the idea was: in the evening before your week starts, everyone in the community gets together to share one joyful thing with everyone else. I have to admit, the first time I went to one of these I thought it was super corny and wanted nothing to do with it, but after practicing deep listening to tune in to everyone's happy moments, it's hard not to feel great in the collective joy of the sangha. I feel like families and classrooms might really benefit from this kind of practice and I'd love to help normalize that.

Maybe I'll share something tonight about the song I made this week with Brother Mountain, the poem I wrote while scrubbing toilets, or how I never expected to help a stoic monk decorate a Christmas Tree at a Buddhist Monastery.

You may find yourself scrubbing toilets.

You may find yourself scrubbing sinks.

May you find yourself where are you find yourself

Making fresh scents out of stinks 💩

Happy Hanukkah! And happy lazy day!