When you chop wood, chop wood

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Somewhere/somewhen I saw “when you chop wood, chop wood” as a “Zen” saying. It really hit home for me as in “stay in the moment”, “be present”, “keep your mind on your current task”.

About the same time, I read Eckhart Tolle’s “The Power of Now”.

A favorite YouTuber, @BrennaLivingJoyfully ( Everything you wanted to know about my life | Solo Female Van Life – YouTube) who does vanlife in Australia, recently posted a link to an Eckhart Tolle video that had a huge impact on me. I had read the one book (The Power of Now) but had never listened to Eckhart Tolle speak.

This is not the video that Brenna linked to, but it is a video that set up a resolution for me … hopefully not just for 2024, but for my life … the takeaway for me is not to engage in “everyone else is wrong and I am right” … and a rehashing of incidents that make me feel like a kind of victim … and/or that I didn’t think up a zippy comeback to whatever happened.

*** The YouTube Share Embed link is not working for this video, but if you’d like to watch (listen … which I HIGHLY recommend )… on YouTube search “Eckhart Tolle Can We Trust Our Feelings and Intuition”

Can We Trust Our Feelings and Intuition? (youtube.com)

In the video, Eckhart illustrates the power of just being and not “fighting back” as well as not calling a friend to rehash and get some sort of validation for our part in whatever incident.

I have wasted many hours in rehashing … in having the rebuttal arguments in my head … over and over and over again.

Holy Cow.

I hope that I am now a little bit enlightened and at least aware so that I stop myself from this behavior. And also, from feeling “superior” for my supposed “rightness”. GAH!

I have caught myself a few times since watching the video and while I hardly think I will be instantly perfect at letting go and staying present … I have seen glimpses of the peace that can come from not participating in rehashing/replaying, etc.

So.

When I catch myself going down a path of spoiling the current moment: the lovely walk with Emmett in the woods, play with Oscar, sitting quietly and watching it snow, enjoying my cup of coffee … I tell myself:

“when you chop wood, chop wood” i.e. enjoy the beauty of now.