Lineup of sticks

Brad LarsonShintaidoLeave a Comment

It feels good to care for sticks. They feel good in your hands, and help keep you healthy. (Who knows, maybe they’ll add a few years to my life?) So, a couple times a year, I oil them, to shine them up and keep them from getting dry with splinters. I’m happy to see the sticks.

You Enter the Sword

Brad LarsonNature, ShintaidoLeave a Comment

Part of my morning routine at Mann’s Pond — an exercise where you imagine you are entering the sword/staff, then the staff entering you (hoshi otoshi in Shintaido). In beautiful nature, you are entering the world, the world is entering you.

Almost Rumi

Brad LarsonHaiku, Image, NatureLeave a Comment

I couldn’t think of a haiku for this, but it would have had something to do with isolation and finding inspiration or longing in nature, with an eye toward the poetry of Rumi. It would have been good.