Zen

Today I was reading Discover Zen which is a book I checked out of the library. It is a nice little book that talks about the origins and the practice of Zen. I'm not currently interested in becoming a Zen Buddhist but I just wanted to know a little about he subject.
One of the exercises is to observe something in your immediate surroundings. It said that if you looked at it long enough, you could see something totally unexpected. I chose to look at a small piece of stained glass art that hangs in the window of our great room. While objectively looking at the piece of art I saw a green lizard come strolling down our lemon tree....inside the house. I thought to myself now that's unexpected. The lemon tree has been inside since before the first frost. Apparently the lizard lived in the tree and he took up residence inside. They eat small bugs, meal worms and spiders. I hadn't thought about it, but I haven't seen very many spiders or other insects that hang around. I watched the lizard for a long while and he observed me too. He looked wise. I looked back at the Zen book and thought dang this is pretty unexpected.
You know, there's a lot going on around us each day and it's easy to fall into the mindset that "I" am the center of the Universe, but everything is connected. We are all apart of the dance of life and there is room for us all.
I hope Mr. Lizard winters well in our home and when spring brings warm days and fresh rain; he goes back outside to his friends and family to say "you won't believe where I've been. I love the Watson’s."