An Ocean of Bright Stars How Zen helps light up everyday life

Zen starts with what seems impossible: sitting still, right in the middle of everything. Trying to be compassionate, but actually finding everyone really annoying? Trying to take a breath, but can't get escape the screens and the washing machine?The ancient traditions of Zen have plenty to teach us about embracing and appreciating all of life, but not in the way you might expect. Our culture promises that if you work, spend, succeed enough, you will be rewarded by feeling good. Zen stands at a different doorway, inviting us into the unbounded satisfaction of ordinary life. Showing us the way inside is Sarah Kanowski, co-host of ABC's beloved Conversations, journalist and a Zen student of more than two decades. This is her beginner's guide to understanding the simple, beautiful and surprising things Zen can offer all of us - at work, in our relationships and within ourselves. Sometimes it might mean trying to help someone less and just letting go. Sometimes it might mean doing really terrifying things, like just listening rather than telling, or feeling anger rather than acting on it, or even working out how to be human around other humans. Our lives include so much - birth and death, the vast ocean and the wondrous stars, sending a lot of emails. Zen can be the tender spot in the centre of our chests, the moment-by-moment interconnection of everything. An Ocean of Bright Stars doesn't contain any rules: it's about aliveness. It's about moments - like this one - in which anything can happen. With chapters on everything from smart phones to suffering, from meditation to frogs and promises, there's something here for all walks of life, for everything you carry, and all levels of interest. If you're overwhelmed, and even if you feel like you're constantly failing, Sarah shows us that Zen doesn't require a plan or a strategy - it was made for now more than ever and it's here for all of us.