Let the training begin…
- Oct 13, 2023
- 2 min read
Tonight I boarded my first of many trains heading back to the West Coast. There's a certain romantic charm about rail travel that I've always appreciated. It's inherently adventurous and a wonderfully independent way to travel. For example, I've been on this train for well over an hour and no one has even checked to see that I have a ticket! 🤣 Plus with all the extra leg room you would never get riding Coach on a plane, there's plenty of creative space for the reflective traveler.
When my parents dropped me at the station earlier, I walked into the lobby and instantly started laughing at myself. "Do you realize what I'm doing right now?," I asked. "I'm about to spend the next week traveling to the complete opposite end of the country so I can sit around with a bunch of monks and nuns until the middle of January!" It's kind of surreal, but it also makes a lot of sense if you know where this story begins.
A little light reading: Something that's always made a lot of sense to me is the book Zen Guitar by Philip Toshio Sudo. It was first recommended to me when I was about 15 by my teacher's brother who pitched it as a "super easy read:" a book where nearly every page holds some of the best fortune cookie wisdom you'll ever receive. I've lost track of how many copies I've purchased, marked up, leant to a friend, lost forever... if you've ever struggled with self-judgement or insecurity about your playing, this book is ready and waiting to help you let go of that so you can play your song like a true Zen master.
"What’s important is to learn from whomever or whatever you can, at your own rate, in your own way. How or when you learn doesn’t matter, so long as the learning occurs."
- Phil Sudo, Zen Guitar
Today, my teacher is this train. Let the training begin. ✌️
Video: a train and a river traveling opposite directions, Williamstown, MA
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