Chop Wood

Pierre Du Plessis
Jul 27, 2017 · 2 min read

“Before enlightenment chop wood and carry water, after enlightenment chop wood and carry water”

​Zen saying

I’m in my head way too much. ​My thoughts tend to drift away at a moment’s notice. My wife tells our kids, Dad has gone to planet ‘kaalkop’ (it means ‘bald head’, but that is another story), just give him a moment to re-enter.

My suspicion is that I’m not the only one on ‘kaalkop’, my suspicion is that we are a society that lives mainly in our heads, and slightly to the left (I think Sir Ken Robinson said that). And our bodies are just vehicles to move our heads around.

The strange, or wonderful, truth that I’ve discovered lately is that our bodies are wonderful places to be, and hold wonderful answers to seemingly unanswerable questions.

There is something primal and beautiful about manual labour, running at full speed, lifting heavy things, it is our natural state.When we enter into our bodies, we often hit a state of flow, whether we are chopping wood or swimming a mile.

And it is like my body works out the answers, beyond words, releases the fear, anger, frustration.

“The hands will solve the riddle that the mind struggles with in vain”CG Jung

Go. Chop wood. Peal potatoes. Lay bricks. Run. Jump. And see.


Originally published at www.pierreduplessis.co.za.

Remember to hit the heart to recommend. :)

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