Zen Artistry in the Modern World

 

Health and Well Being

 

Zen artistry and everyday living center on how we navigate our lives.  It shapes how we care for ourselves, respond
to changing circumstances, and engage with each day's opportunities and challenges.  Central to this idea is personal empowerment: developing a vision for the life we want to lead and then building the skills, mindset, and discipline to help accomplish the goals that we set out to achieve.  At the same time, we cannot control everything that happens to us.
Life will forever set into motion events we cannot anticipate or change.  Zen artistry is the practice of anchoring to what
is within our power — the choices we make, our capacity to meet the unexpected, and how we approach the challenges
right in front of us.  Here, mind, body, and spirit are deeply interconnected.  When we pay attention to all three, we create
a foundation for resilience, vitality, and inner steadiness.
 

Caring for the Body
Our bodies power our lives; being healthy is the foundation for staying active and engaged.  As we get older, however, caring
for the body offers up the opportunity to challenge ourselves in altogether new ways.  Activities such as yoga, strength training,
Nordic walking, swimming, cycling, and pickleball (to name only a few) can build strength, flexibility, balance, and endurance.
For someone who has never considered themselves athletic, beginning a new physical activity represents both a challenge
and an opportunity.  There is something very personal and empowering about discovering that the body still has the capability to learn new things.  Doing a Nordic walk or playing pickleball for the first time (or any exercise that has never been tried before) can expand our sense of what is possible.  The larger goal is to remain healthy and fit.  This, in turn, gives us the ability to travel and engage in high play adventures, work on that special house project that requires physical strength and stamina, play with one’s children or grandchildren, or simply enjoy a walk with that special someone on a beautiful day.

Keeping the Mind Engaged
A healthy life also depends on keeping the mind curious and open to new experiences. It is easy, particularly as we get older,
to settle into familiar routines and ways of doing things.  Maintaining our sense of discovery and wonder can help keep life fresh and engaging.  Staying curious, learning new skills, traveling somewhere unfamiliar, taking up a creative activity, or simply approaching an old problem from a different perspective can keep life intellectually engaging.  Curiosity gives us a reason
to keep exploring.  Travel can be especially valuable in this regard.  Leaving familiar surroundings changes our perspective. 
New places introduce us to different landscapes, cultures, foods, architecture, and ways of living.  Even an unexpected conversation with someone we meet along the way can sometimes challenge and open us to another way of seeing the world.  The ability to learn, adapt, and reconsider is an important part of the high play adventure.  Whether it’s taking a class or workshop at the local community college, traveling or being part of a monthly book club, these activities can become part
of the high play adventure that keeps us engaged with life for no reason other than the pleasure of discovery and learning new things.

Zen Artistry and Everyday Living
Zen Artistry is ultimately expressed in our approach to day-to-day living. It can be seen in the ordinary moments of the day:
how we respond when someone frustrates us, how we handle an unexpected problem, how carefully we listen to another person, and whether we allow stress to control our reactions.  A Zen Artistry approach to everyday life begins with awareness. 
Before reacting, we can pause.  Before judging, we can listen.  Before allowing a disagreement to escalate, we can consider
what is really at stake.  This does not mean becoming passive or avoiding difficult situations. In many circumstances, the more constructive response is to address a problem directly, but without allowing anger or ego to take over.

Zen Artistry does not mean remaining calm at all times.  Some days we will handle a difficult situation with patience and perspective; other days we will not.  The natural flows of daily life will inevitably bring disappointment, frustration, anger, and uncertainty.  The objective is not to eliminate these emotions but to become less controlled by them.  We can learn to recognize when we are under pressure, step back when necessary, establish reasonable boundaries, and return to a difficult conversation when we are better prepared to have it.  This way of living also extends to our relationships.  Listening to understand rather than having that ready-made answer can change the quality and depth of a conversation.  Trust develops through consistent actions.  Forgiveness can release us from the continuing burden of carrying old grievances.  And learning
to trust our own judgment can reduce the need for constant validation from others.

The Growing Edge
A challenge-free life sounds ideal, but hardship and setbacks are often our greatest teachers.  As David Gershon and
Gail Straub write, the idea of a “growing edge” suggests that personal growth often occurs just beyond what is familiar and comfortable.  It is the point where we encounter something that asks us to stretch — to learn a new skill, change an established pattern, begin again after a setback, or confront something we have been avoiding.  The growing edge is not necessarily dramatic.  It might be learning to use new technology, taking on the challenge of learning a new sport such as
golf, or having that difficult conversation with someone that you have been avoiding.

What these experiences have in common is that they require us to move beyond the regular routines that make us comfortable.
The ability to move through and beyond our growing edge requires both commitment and resilience.  In her writings, author Angela Duckworth speaks to the importance of “grit;” that is, having a long-term passion and persistent effort toward a singular, deeply meaningful goal.  She argues that a sustained resilience and work ethic is a far more accurate predictor of success
than innate talent, intelligence, or luck.  Grit also means learning to overcome setbacks which will naturally happen as part
of any sustained effort toward a promising goal.  The growing edge reminds us that continuing to learn and adapt may be one of the most important ways we remain fully engaged as we move through different stages of life.

Living More Simply
There is also a connection between well-being and the way we organize our lives.  Too much activity, too many possessions, and too many competing demands can leave little room for the things that matter most.  Duane Elgin describes “voluntary simplicity” as a way of living that is “outwardly simple and inwardly rich.”  The idea is not about deprivation.  It is about being more intentional about what we consume, how we spend our time, the work we undertake, and the relationships we cultivate.  Simplicity can create room for something else: attention.  When we remove some of the unnecessary distractions from
our lives, there is more time for people, interests, creativity, nature, and experiences that bring genuine satisfaction.  This is where simplicity becomes more than an approach to possessions.  It can also apply to our calendars, our commitments,
our digital lives, and even the expectations we place upon ourselves.  A simpler life does not necessarily mean doing less.
Instead, it means being more deliberate about what deserves our time and attention.  In this sense, simplicity is not simply about having less. It is about making room for more of what matters.

 

Purpose, Connection, and Joy
The goals that were once important in the early stages of our working careers may not be the same ones that matter decades later.  A career that may have once provided you with a strong sense of identity and purpose may shift in later years toward family, community, creativity, travel, or simply being available to the people we care about.  What matters is having a north star that draws us forward and gives our efforts a renewed sense of purpose and direction.  The activities that awaken curiosity, challenge our abilities, and bring us genuine pleasure are part of what makes a meaningful life possible.  They give us something to look forward to, something to share with others, and sometimes simply a reason to smile.

Connection is equally important. Well-being is rarely a solitary pursuit.  Our relationships with family, friends, colleagues, neighbors, and community give us opportunities to contribute, to be supported, and to share experiences.  Some of life's most meaningful moments are not accomplishments at all, but conversations, over shared meals, unexpected encounters, or time spent with someone we care about.  There is a special joy in walking the dog in the morning and talking with one’s neighbor along the way.  Purpose gives direction.  Connection gives belonging.  Joy gives us a reason to remain engaged. 
Together, they help transform a healthy life from a matter of maintaining into a life that is actively lived.

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Playing the Larger Game
Phil Jackson's experience as coach of the Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers provides another perspective on well-being.
In his writing, Jackson writes about mindfulness, perspective, teamwork, and the importance of creating the conditions for success without becoming consumed by the outcome.  His approach grew in part from his long interest in Zen meditation
and other philosophical traditions.  That idea has relevance far beyond a basketball court.  Life contains its own scoreboard — career accomplishments, financial success, recognition, victories, disappointments, and losses.  It is natural to care about these things.  But if the scoreboard becomes the measure of our entire lives, we risk losing sight of everything that happens between the beginning and the end of the game.  We can prepare, work hard, compete, and give our best effort while recognizing that the final result will not always be within our control.  Jackson's larger point is not that winning does not matter.  It is that becoming obsessed with the outcome can distract us from the equally important inner game.

Zen Artistry is less concerned with keeping score than with how we engage with the world around us.  What we can control
is how we show up to play each day: whether we remain engaged, whether we continue learning, whether we treat others with respect, whether we respond to setbacks with resilience, and whether we continue to find reasons for curiosity and joy. 
Perhaps this is where health and well-being ultimately come together.  The objective is not to eliminate difficulty or create a life without disappointment.  It is to remain present enough to experience the life we have, purposeful enough to shape what we can, resilient enough to recover from hardship, and open enough to recognize the unexpected opportunities along the way. 

A well-lived life is not measured only by how long we live or by how much we accomplish.  It is also measured by how fully
we engage the people we love, the challenges we meet, the places we discover, the work we do, the moments of high play,
and the simple experiences that might otherwise pass unnoticed.  The larger game of life has no final score that tells us whether we played it well.  There is only the opportunity, each day, to step onto the court again — to be present, to learn,
to adapt, to connect, and to play the game with purpose, curiosity, and grace.
 

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Selected Sources and Further Reading

Angela Duckworth, Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2016.

Duane Elgin, Voluntary Simplicity: Toward a Way of Life That Is Outwardly Simple, Inwardly Rich. HarperCollins, 2009.

David Gershon and Gail Straub, Empowerment: The Art of Creating Your Life as You Want It. Sterling Publishing, 2011. 

Phil Jackson and Hugh Delehanty, Eleven Rings: The Soul of Success. Penguin Press, 2013.