"Emptiness which is conceptually liable to be mistaken for sheer nothingness is in fact the reservoir of infinite possibilities."
— D.T. Suzuki
Warriors aspire to nothingness. In Aikido training, we are trying to achieve a state of mushin (無心) or “nothingness” in our training. At this place, we can be equanimous where we observe instead of react. Often times people think that mushin means to not think, but that isn’t quite the case. The non-thinking part is the deactivation of the conscious mind while allowing the unconscious or subconscious mind to flow. When we reach this state, we are in the “flow of the ki” or ki no nagare (氣の流れ) and when this happens we are supposedly in accordance with the flow of the universe where “nothing” exists. D.T. Suzuki’s assertion implies that where we find nothing is where everything exists. 2020, the year of the Rat was supposed to be auspicious as it was the beginning of a new Lunar cycle in Chinese astrology. However, 2020 was quite a stinker of a year. When we think back about 2020, what will we think, feel or remember? As someone said, “2020 was so bad they named it twice.” Yes, but the question is, “What did you get?” For me, I didn’t get nothing. Oops, nothing? Nothing is defined as “not a single thing”, but nothing in this sense means that if I didn’t get “nothing” then I must have gotten something even if it was unintentional or unwanted. If you are like me, I mostly learned. I learned new skills. I learned new things about my body. I learned how important the little things are to me like my family and my friends. Yes, 2020 sucked on many levels, but it also brought me so much that I am grateful for. I, for sure, didn’t get nothing. I am forever grateful for all the people who read my posts and watched my videos. I look forward to 2021 with great hope and anticipation and I wish you all the best in the coming year!
Today’s goal: Be grateful. You may feel that you didn’t get anything that you wanted but I am sure if you dig deep enough, you can realize that you didn’t get nothing. ;)