Stillwater

My younger cousins, Vikki and Nessa, know me well. For Christmas, they bought me a gift certificate to Chapters and last weekend, I finally went shopping to treat myself. The parking lot was crowded ... though it seemed there were more people in the coffee shop than in the actual store. But, perhaps I was looking through my cynical-colored glasses, so I tried to blame it on the scope of the super-book-shoppe.

I picked up "Letters to a Young Poet" by Rainer Maria Rilke and wandered through the children's section. I stumbled across this book and had to have it. "Zen Shorts" by Jon J Muth. Everyone should have this book.

The Giant Panda, Stillwater, shares stories of enlightenment and love. And the Zen Shorts have no goals, no objectives, no terms of reference -- just a challenge to look at our life with a different lens. What would life on Earth be like if we all taught that skill to our children?

My favorite line in the book: "He spoke with a slight panda accent."