Chop Wood Carry Water

It is a delightful feeling to want and need very little...to feel happiness sprout from your bare hands and the ground beneath your feet. There is a Zen saying, “Before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood, carry water.” I am definitely not enlightened...I change too frequently and move between dark and light too much, among other reasons. But I do confirm that I am most fulfilled and overcome with joy when I am chopping wood and carrying water.

To not rely on anything more than what exists is the most liberating and secure feeling of all...the closer I can get to that, the freer I will be. Because it is not happiness that I am after...it is freedom.

Art, life, adventure, and growth doesn’t happen from being happy all the time. Only freedom gives you that.

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