Often, we find ourselves entangled in the drama of our thoughts, stuck in a loop, and therefore feeling the emotional sting. To create some distance, try this practice of watching thoughts like a movie on a TV screen. Simply observing them like a neutral party without getting drawn in. Over time, we start to embrace that thoughts are just slide shows, pictures in a borrowed book, like what Misuzu Kaneko writes in her poetry. She lived almost more than 100 years ago yet her wisdom remains timeless.
Beautiful Town, by Misuzu Kaneko
Suddenly, I recall that town—
the red rooftops along the river bank;
and then, on the waters of that broad blue river
a white sail—quietly, quietly moving;
and on the grass of the riverbank
a young man, an artist
idly staring at the water.
And I? What was I doing?
When I think I can’t remember,
I realize it was all a picture in a borrowed book.
Guide: Noelle Lim
Image credit: Catherine Heath, Unsplash
Kindermind Center 