In the beginner's mind, there is no thought.

That's from Shunryu Suzuki-Roshi, Zen master and sometimes puppeteer.  (Not really.  He wasn't a Zen master.  Ha!  Now I am now talking like him.)

Well, this beginner's mind thing, at my age ... not so easy.  It's not that I know everything.  I still have a reasonable grasp of the state capitals, a smattering of Latin, and with a few days practice I could pull off a Bach Invention or two.

But it's all iffy and unfocused.  I have Jeopardy mind.  A vast collection of relatively useless information that became obsolete about five versions of Trivial Pursuit ago.  And if I made it to Jeopardy, there would be some smarty pants from the military beating my butt anyway.

And so, this year I am cultivating beginner's mind.  But even that's a Catch 22.  Because it cannot be a goal to have beginner's mind.  (Honestly, sometimes Zen is like bad technical support with some guy from India named "Skip."  By the time the conversation's over, nothing's fixed and you have a headache.)

In this "Beginner's Mind" quest, I will be testing out this proposition of no thought.

After a five-year hiatus, during which I forgot everything, I returned to studying shakuhachi with the master (yes, lineage, the whole bit) with whom a took a couple of workshops. 

Shakuhachi is a devilishly difficult instrument to play which -- even when it is played right -- sounds like it is wrong.

Stay tuned.  Other beginners projects will involve accordion (there is nothing sweeter than the sound of accordions ... burning), bodhran, and yoga.

I will also explain the box on the guy's head, too.