Notes from the Soji chat
observations and intentions from participants in the Soji workshop
Contemplative Tending: Soji in Creative Practice starts up again on Sunday, October 6 at 10 - 12:30 PST. I’ll be teaching it through the San Francisco Zen Center.
We’ll meet once a month for a total of four sessions. For each session, a different Zen teacher from SFZC will be co-leading the workshop. I’m thrilled and grateful to be teaching with them.
Guest Teachers:
Sunday, October 6: Teah Strozer
Sunday, November 10: Horin Nancy Petrin
Sunday, December 8: Shosan Victoria Austin
Sunday, January 12: Ikushin Dana Velden
As the first session approaches two Sundays from now, I’ll be sharing some notes to convey a sense of what happens in the workshop.
Here are some notes from the chat from sessions that have happened over the past few years. Participants often make notes in the chat about what they’ll be working on, or about what they’re noticing in their process. These are loosely categorized and lightly edited.
Intentions for the session
historical research / but also clean the bathroom
to be in company
getting traction, making contact
inhabit my mountain body
non-fiction book proposal: open it!
using time to do micro track changes on edits
momentum to get through the rest of the day
stack of masks that need to be washed
time away from time
organizing — not with a pressure — what i want to have around me
bake a pie during this session
my study / writing room / sanctuary
to not constantly be going through piles
I took the invitation to lie down
gently packing for a backpacking trip
avoiding sorting all the pens
sorting all the pens
cleansing
I am deep in a piece of writing….
task i've been dreading / I decided to start it
I'm going to look at my desk pile as a soji treasure hunt
reading back over freewriting drafts
pause
ground and settle
how to bring forward the mountain when not in the mountains
tending myself
looking at some poems
as soon as we started, someone came into my studio & I’ve been sojI tending to that
moving belongings into the middle of the living room
rabbit’s foot fern / clipping the dead fronds
to get to what I need to get to
scaffolding / yoga stretches
color in the images in the black and white photo
going to try to think less and do more
just organize my brain into looking at a poem
writing: character development
ink my pens
photo albums that are unfilled
avalanche of address labels
do some dishes
printer foibles
photography
prepare the desk, clean it
bringing the flowers into the room
Ideas, Insights, Habits, Patterns:
What are people feeling/noticing about their own process?
I feel more like myself
I'm good at being slow
never sure what's going to arise
hard time accessing beauty
resting in an engaged way
this is HARD!!!!!@!
loosening a material between me and beginning something that is actually going to help me feel better in the long run
more at ease
started getting fun
found a weird thing / sweet memory from that moment
been completely stuck and foggy
feeling as if something has been lifted
feeling more in contact
muscle memory
need for community
loved seeing my apartment for the “first” time
writing with a more open purpose
essential oil / the scent became more pervasive/ gave me more stamina
still landing
attention stretches and dilates what seems to be a fixed quality
I forgot why i put it aside for so long
affectionate awe rather than the tedium
noticing light of the morning moving through the room
discovered the document i started: it was a voice-to-text document
switching between tending to body & to writing: stretches & writing
the thing i'm not doing is writing/ the thing i'd like to be doing is writing
lots of different things going on / wanting to center
what's missing are a lot of commas
time is malleable in relation to our tasks
not underestimate the impact we make
set small goals
connect from love
I had overlooked something that had meant alot to me
the speed can be a deterrent to a deeper care
allowing things to meet me
to whom or what am i giving my authority?
efficiency can take me away from what i care about
“the spiritual virtue"
so robust! to inquire into time and agency
the idea of practice
"certain patiences”
the noticing
clean for the cleaner/ edit for the editor
I tend to wrestle internally
How to hold myself
not a straight line
having to do it all myself
touching without doing
attention is always looking for the next shiny thing
soji yourself
mise en place
mise en scene
the first time i've shown up
“changing my relationship to outcome”
things are opening up ~
picking a task: “dehierarchicalizes”
two cats sleeping in separate baskets
embracing impermanence
increasing intuition and psychic power
fascinated as a zen practitioner/ home & isolated
i've done nothing but clean and clear for the last three days
a distorted relationship to time
willingness to do things that are important but don't feel urgent
the ongoing self-judgment: assaultive on the heart
the three D’s of pruning// dead, diseased, damaged
didn't have to attend to the sandy floor
an atmosphere of attunement and responsiveness within yourself
non-interfering and non-reactive attention of good-enough mother
the mind as a good-enough mother
lucky enough to talk to my mom this morning
meditation holds the mind, providing a holding environment
technical things can bog you down
celebrate the third grade teacher
what would it look like if i did shift the narrative?
change the channel
the presence i want to offer
uncontrived conduct
finally have a minute
the roller coaster of things
looking at the tree/ appreciating it
I am noting how naming the room shapes the intention
invitation to notice what’s close in
helpful to be reminded not to just jump in
slowly enter space of tending
to invite forward this shyer part of the self / the heart / give the heart voice
“changing my relationship to outcome”
writing with a more open purpose
pick up one box and look at it
notice energetically my relationship to the comma
examine the narratives/ feeling states
change the channel
Single words
enough
vulture/ dolphin /fish
Shedding
Guidance
<3
fear
permission
scaffolding
the noticing
pre-soji
meticulous
liberating
sangha
Same!
🐞💗
🤍
witnessing
re-source
farmers market
Color
resetting
galvanizing
About Soji & the group
THANK YOU to G and everyone for creating and holding this space~ This was utterly wonderful
it's wonderful to have you here doing hard things with us!
soak up the support of being in a group
ground/write/ to feel bolstered
nice to be with you all.
feeling you all with me
I have to run but thank you soooo much everyone! <3
community experiences / uplifting
the soji is creeping in
Love to you all! Love our group– see you next time! <3
Loved it.
Heartbeak came up for me too in this soji
❤️ to all of you ❤️
the cathedral of our intentions
nice to meet you all
we're all incarnate together
Thanks to all for another generative session.
yes, thank you everyone. sending love.
Thank you for being so welcoming, everyone!
I love this weekly group so much
a new starting point
[ ], your work is beautiful!
I just want to wish those recovering or recently recovering or dealing with COVID a good recovery, many healing wishes.
an atmosphere of attunement and responsiveness within yourself
The Pali word sangha translates roughly as “association or assembly, company or community with a common goal, vision or purpose.”
a collective body that supports everyone within it
Bless this portal, thankful for ease
thank you 🙏🏽
beautiful
I liked what you said about tending to ourselves in ways we weren't. Thank you
i grew up playing sports/ team sports/ poet and big jock/ chatter on the bench, so it was nice to feel the team spirit
If you’d like to register for the workshop, the links below will take you to the San Francisco Zen Center Website