"Your home is an extension of yourself, therefore, when your home is in turmoil, your life is in turmoil. However, when you attend to your home, you begin to feel less hurried and more in tune with the world around you. There are delight and calm to be found in the midst of washing dishes or changing the water in a vase of flowers: there is pleasure to be experienced in the repetitions of daily life.
"In Sweeping Changes, Gary Thorp shows how the principles of Zen can bring harmony and peace to your life at home. You don't need special surroundings or to sit quietly in a formal posture to achieve the tranquility of Zen: you can find it anywhere -- in the action of dusting a shelf, organizing your closet, or feeding your cat. As Thorp conveys in sparkling prose, many everyday activities provide an opportunity for Zen practice, satisfaction, and spiritual growth. Whether you live in a small room, an apartment, or a palace, this delightful, insightful book will not only change your feelings toward housekeeping, it will help you see your home, and your place in it, in a new and nurturing light."
~~back cover
I'm still thinking about this book -- not sure whether I liked it or not. I am very drawn to Zen, and other books I've read have given me a sense of tranquility and peace as I read them. This book did not, and I'm not sure why it didn't. It was well written, and certainly addressed itself to the main turmoil in my own life: a house that is cluttered, and just short of chaos. I had hoped that this book would be a companion to my efforts to attend to my home, to declutter it and make it a place of comfort, beauty and serenity. Although the various areas and chores of a house are considered in this book, I didn't come away with any sense of the goal ahead, the process of reaching that goal, nor the journey that will be the process. Perhaps that's because I have only taken a few steps along the path -- perhaps I wasn't ready to understand the message.
I think I'll keep the book, and reread it at a later date, when I am farther along the path.
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