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81 On Being Natural I wonder whether most Americans want to hear the fact that, ­however much we may wish to be extraordinary, nearly all of the time we are unremarkable. American culture seems to place a strong positive value on individuality, diversity, and unconventionality. Look at the synonyms for “ordinary” in a dictionary or thesaurus. The great majority of them have negative connotations—“commonplace,” “bland,” “stale,” “banal,” “trite,” “dull,” and “prosaic” being typical examples. But “ordinary” need not be negative. It also contains the potential for security, regularity, peace, and even for normal growth and development . There is nothing wrong with going for the gold, but such efforts must begin with a realistic understanding of our ordinary human limitations and potential. How can anyone bound in the chains of status and fame speak or write about the ordinary life? Who doesn’t grow nervous in the presence of a new sweetheart? Who doesn’t feel anxiety before a job interview? Television, for example , has produced new ideals, impossibly high standards. Viewers don’t ordinarily see the outtakes, the errors, the stumbling, the forgotten lines, and the tension of announcers waiting to be on camera. The cool, smooth delivery of television announcers and screen actors would be artificial in many everyday life circumstances. Don’t seek the impossible; do what you can; accept the discrepancy. “Don’t hang around kings, important officials, powerful people, or people full of lust and eager for name and fame, or tellers of tales. . . . 17 Water, Snow, Water 82 Don’t take delight in crowds or seek for disciples. Don’t study or practice too many things. . . . Green waters and verdant mountains are the place to walk in meditation; by the streams, under the trees are places to clear the mind” (Cleary, 1980, p. 117, quoted from Keizan Jokin’s Zazen Yojinki). This wise man is recommending that we take a stroll out-of-doors to remind ourselves of our fundamental place in nature. While head-tripping in the soft glow of a television screen we can momentarily lose our roots. Beware! ...

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