Katagiri Roshi, the Zen master of Natalie Goldberg (a prominent writer), once told her “Your little will can’t do anything. It takes Great Determination. Great Determination doesn’t mean just you making an effort. It means the whole universe is behind you, with you⎯the birds, trees, sky, moon, and ten directions.”
Today, I believe I have exerted and displayed Great Determination in hunting down all the things that go to my dorm room and replacing and replenishing and purchasing everything I need to live at the Mount. I don’t know if the universe is behind me or with me, but I certainly have gone ten directions or more to hunt down everything I need!
I am currently sitting in the desk chair of my brother, which I’ll add is enormously comfy, resting after a long day of dorm shopping. Today, I’ve been all around Cincinnati, hunting high and low for the best prices on all the things I need for my dorm. I’ve calculated and deliberated, scrimped and saved, and watched my lowering gas meter with great sadness. But it is now the end of the day, and I can say that I have found everything I need, quite a few things I don’t need but want very much, and even at some pretty cool deals!
I managed to get a carpet for my room in the Seton Center Suites, and quite a few other things that can add some color to my room, including some curtains. The curtains were only 10$ at Ikea, and the carpet was 25$ at Target. If you look at other 5’x8’ carpets, you’ll find out 25$ is a steal!
Anyway, I’ve spent this entire week trying to clear out all of the stuff that I’ve had stacked away in my art studio at home all summer. So I can say I’ve actually moved mountains! Like the creator of Mt. Rushmore, if I stare at my mountain of stuff long enough, I see faces, but they’re not necessarily pretty.
I have a story to tell. At the end of last year, I wrote a blog saying that you should go ahead and bring whatever you want to college. The dorm sometimes gets a little cluttered, but it’s nice to have everything you need right on hand. I know I brought a few things to college that I didn’t really need last year, but it was cool to have all this neat stuff that we had around (such as several board games, an original Nintendo and Super Nintendo, and a huge drawing table).
Well, since I wrote that blog, I have moved all of that ‘cool stuff’ down six flights of stairs into an old van, then moved it out of that van into my art studio at home, where I stacked it haphazardly and chaotically in a manner that was sort of manner-less for four months. Suffice it to say I have lived and learned.
Do bring everything you need to college. But before you pack it up, question whether or not you really need it. If you bring everything and anything that tickles your fancy over to the dorms, come moving time you’ll be up to your ears in boxes and funny colored Halloween decorations you really don’t have a place to store over the summer.
Only a few more days left until I move all my stuff once again back into the Seton Center dorms. I’m looking forward to it very much! Only a few days now, and then I’ll see you folks all at the Mount!