shutting up with the Buddha

Once upon a time, Pat found something at the Club.

(For those who know him, that comes as no surprise. Over the years, Pat has found litterally hundreds of things at the Club…as well as a couple of people, including me! But seriously, the guy is like a crow; anything shiny or unusual will catch his eye. Watches, earrings, cell phones, money, drugs, Paul’s engagement ring – the list goes on and on…)

As I was saying, then, once upon a time, Pat found something at the Club. Something unique, something I wouldn’t expect to find on the floor of a club at three in the morning: a small figurine of the Buddha, seated, belly bulging, laughing, with a fan in his right hand. The kind you find in Oriental knick-knack shops. Go figure. I’ve kept him over the years, and I call upon his contemplative, meditative nature in times of need. He’s seen better days, which is to be expected considering his background, and the fact he is usually bouncing around at the bottom of my purse, so I repaint the bits where the colour has rubbed off with a Sharpie – mostly the tip of his nose. I put him in my pocket whenever I speak in public, be it in class or at work. And there’s a little nook in the stand of my new monitor that seems just made for him. So there he sits, particularly on days when I need to put into practice my “shut up” exercises (see yesterday’s interminable post, somewhere near the bottom.)

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