Yesterday I learned a new word yesterday from my friend, EL’s new blog .

“Mushin (pronounced moo-shin), or ‘no mind.’ It is a term that describes ”a state of pure consciousness unburdened by thought.”

EL learned the word in karate camp and talks about it in an interesting post.

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My mind’s been spinning so much lately with all my “todo lists” and “need to get done now” lists, I keep trying to go into “mushin” but I haven’t been able to turn the brain off lately.

Yesterday I was in one of my “enough is enough” modes and I think I actually made some organizational progress, that I’ll share with you.

My new method is a personalized system derived from one of my favorite books, “Getting Things Done”, and just looking at it has given me some sense of peace, so I’ll share it with you.

I have about nine projects in the forefront of my consciousness, and the disorganized stickee notes are beginning to pile up again, everywhere.

What I did was, I sorted everything according by those 9 projects, into their own distinct, little pile on the futon in my office, with a todo list on top of each one, and a “NEXT” item in red at the top of each of those todo lists. So as I get to each one, I’ll just cross off the “next”, and move on to the “next”, as I get to it, in my own sweet little time.

And then, as phone calls and brilliant ideas filter in here throughout the day, I’ll just place them in their own sweet little pile and jot a note on the cover sheet that it’s there, note it’s priority, and I’ll get to it when I get to it. Ahhhh!

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My students have been returning from their summer vacations. Yesterday, an outgoing, popular teenager returned to me after a 30 day canoeing trip in the wilds of Canada. She said it was very strange – being 30 days out of touch with everyone, never getting that close to the people she was with – being so alone, so far out in the wilderness. It was a very different experience for her, and I could see she was somewhat changed from it. Quieter, deeper, more mature.

I said, well, would you do it again? Then she got all excited and said there’s a 45-day trip she wants to take next summer.

Then she turned to me and said: “So what did you do this summer?! Where did you go?!”

And all I wanted to do was tell her of some marvelous trip I went on. Some adventure somewhere.

But I didn’t go anywhere this summer. I had the music camps I was doing, along with my regular teaching schedule. And then I had my show which kept me busy through the end of July.

All my students are now coming back from all these exotic places. EL just got back from Israel, Hawaii and Chicago. Even my ex spent 2 weeks on a tour through Canada.

I haven’t gone anywhere in about 6 months. I’ve been sitting here in my head, spinning, planning, fretting, plotting, etc. etc. etc. And I could use some serious mushin time.

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EJ has a house in the mountains and has invited me to come up next weekend. I can’t wait. I;m just gonna sit there and not do anything. Just wanna hike a little, breathe the clean air, and just Be.