Diana Raab

According to Buddhism In yesterday’s newspaperthey theorized how sex and angerare the mind’s two greatest distractions.The next section said howeach of us gravitates to one or the other. I paused. What was my pull?In actuality, I do not thinkmuch about sex and there is no place for anger. What does all this mean?I am not really sure. Zen Thoughts Today, a hike in Sedonabrought seductive sceneryinto my enlightenment–a sky as blue as our ocean,and as wide as obesity. Yesterday I met with someone not seen in yearsladen with stories woven with petit memories.For five hours we roamed Sedona’s hillsweaving through falling red rocks and once running riversand all I remember is my long dialogue with silence. On the table outside my writing studio,I stare at more hills contemplating my next wordsas I realize that withinmy head lies a fertile literary terrain. Last weekend I went to a fashion show in New Yorkwith my middle daughter and in the theater’s front rowsat the Vogue editor and I thought, “The Devil Wears a Poem.” At home, my Hopper painting on its office wallpushes the most creative words out of mesomething about the view from a train windowwhich is like a notebook for the eyes. Good poems, like good fiction need a problemsolved, but on some days the jar is repleteof problems in the midst of sleeping answers. In Singapore, the reclaimed citytwenty-six miles long and three cultures wide,on some twenty-seventh floorI sip green tea admiring and tasting the beauty. Yesterday’s teahouse brought a Zen calmin a different sort of wayunlike the tea in my own kitchen. Some things cannot be explainedbut can certainly be enjoyed. Diana Raab, Ph.D., is a memoirist, blogger, psychologist, workshop leader, thought provoker, and award-winning author of 8 books and over 500 articles and published poems. Her passion and expertise is writing for healing, transformation and empowerment. She has been writing since the age of 10 when her mother gave her her first journal to cope with her grandmother’s suicide. She blogs for Psychology Today, The Huffington Post, BrainSpeak, and PsychAlive. For more information, visit: www.dianaraab.com.