So I continue to wait. There are at least 5 mostly writing related responses that I am waiting, as I sit on fully written drafts, proposed concepts, and ideas still reaching for its form.
In writing, as in tea, waiting is essential. Timing is everything. Everything in its own time.
Pause.
The chrysanthemum blooms in a season of its own. Music lives in the silence between the notes, in the spaces that hold them.
Shigemori Mirei 重森三玲
It is easy to have calmness in inactivity, it is hard to have calmness in activity, but calmness in activity is true calmness. - Zen Master Shunryu SuzukiThis spring break, I took my eldest daughter to visit three karesansui 枯山水, Japanese Zen rock gardens, designed by Shigemori Mirei - a visionary artist and self-taught landscape designer. A bold innovator.
In a Zen garden, white empty spaces or yohaku 余白 speak just as clearly as the stones. What is left unsaid often carries the deepest resonance. It is the pause that shapes the garden, the stillness that lends its mystery. Like the silence between words in poetry.
Without empty spaces, there is no Zen garden.
Beginner’s Mind 初心
Observation isn’t just about looking - it’s about disappearing. — The World According to Joan Didion 初心忘るべからず Shoshin wasuru bekarazu. Never forget your beginner’s mind.
To truly learn, one must stop always trying to be seen. It’s also about stepping back and waiting for the moment.
True learning means approaching things with the same openness and humility we had when we first encountered them - quieting the ego - even when we are no longer beginners.
I learned this firsthand, recently, when I was interviewing people for my ‘Conversations Mostly from Kyoto’ series.
Interviewing is a delicate art of balancing between asking questions, steering conversations, while remaining ever mindful not to disrupt the natural rhythm of a conversation. It is about creating space for the words to breathe, allowing the pauses to speak as loudly as the answers.
True listening and learning go beyond capturing what is obvious. It is also about listening to what is unsaid - the body language, the tone, the pauses between words, and the things left unspoken. It is in these subtleties that deeper meaning often lies.
The shadows are as important as the light itself.
Beautifully written resonated with my heart. Thank you, Peck Gee! ❤️🙏🏽
I can walk and linger in these gardens for hours...
The idea of yohaku 余白 is so important in Eastern philosophy, aesthetics, architecture, and way of life. When I was learning calligraphy from my father, he always told me that blank space 留白 is more important than what's written. The characters themselves are important, but without knowing how to leave open spaces, the work itself is incomplete.