Banana Daiquiri's and Life Lessons: The Unglamorous Necessities of Living Well

“Before enlightenment: chop wood, carry water.

After enlightenment: chop wood, carry water.”

~Zen Proverb

I’m not sure where and when exactly I first came across this quote. But it was probably at college, which means it was longer ago than I’d really like to admit. Regardless, I’ve carried it with me in the increasingly dusty storage passages upstairs. Like all good proverbs, it has layers of interpretation. Coming to an understanding of those layers - moments of enlightenment - takes exercising the mind; another intentional characteristic of proverbs.

One interpretation I’ve come to is that in life there is no arrival point at which everything after is auto pilot. That graduation, job, job promotion, marriage, trip, etc. That moment you’ve dreamed about since you were young, whatever it is. Once obtained the work isn’t over. To make it to that moment you had to, metaphorically speaking, chop wood and carry water. To move forward, you have to continue to maintain it by chopping wood and carrying water: doing the day-to-day, often mundane and boring tasks in the same manner as before. Accomplishment is a great feeling, but bragging rights won’t keep us living; really living and feeling alive.

For many of us, chopping wood and carrying water is probably taking out the trash and doing the dishes; changing oil in the car and cleaning the bathroom; getting the groceries and giving the dog a bath; taking the kids to school and cooking dinner; working out and, well you get it. Call it the unglamorous necessities of living well.

Yesterday, my wife and I took our dog to the beach, came home and made dinner, then we split up and she got groceries while I took the recyclables in for some cash money. That afternoon I bottled one batch of wine and racked another then we made dinner, did dishes, garbage, etc. Unglamorous labor and to an outside observer (such as our lovely readers) this is boring and not newsworthy. Something we all tend to forget at some point when posting things to social media.. Jus’ say’n.

But I felt accomplished and it felt good. Things got done and I’d exerted some energy - I guess that releases feelsgood body chemicals and such. But while I can carry the accomplishment into future days - I like the fact there are 10 corked wine bottles that have taken 9 months of process to get there sitting in the hallway - today, I won’t get the same feeling unless I accomplish more, accomplish todays unglamerousness. It follows another Zen goal: live in the present moment. Yesterday’s chopped wood and carried water does little for me today, especially if I burned it all up and drank it all - or turned it into beer. Time to continue on today, getting shit done and wait for a moment of enlightenment to make itself available.

In light of our current situation, i.e. #‎BDandLLHappyDays‬, happiness is tied of course to accomplishment, feeling of well-being, and not ignoring the little things, the small and unglamerous. It is not a complete picture of happiness, but what is? As Jason told me the other day, “You make your own happiness.”

In conclusion, after searching the above proverb, I came across this blog by Thomas D. Craig who had this to say about it:

“Break life down into the simplicity of the present moment. As human beings we do not live in the present moment. We carry our past forward with us, we yearn for something in the future and all the time we miss what is in front of us at all times. Life is beautiful right in front of us at every moment. Focusing on this moment right now removes the mind from drifting to wants, needs, desires….all driven by the mind in search of attachment. With attachment comes suffering.”

Some good words to digest over the coming week(s).

Here are a few of my unglamerous moments.

Happiness is: