This is, ostensibly, a dog story. Of a dog — Ricochet — who was born & bred to be a service dog, but disappointed. And what happened afterwards…

Buddhism talks about letting go. The opposite of letting go is attachment, which Lama Surya Das likens to “holding on tightly to something that is always slipping through [your] fingers — it just gives [you] rope burn.”

It wasn’t Ricochet ‘holding on,’ nor was it Ricochet who had to ‘let go.’ Beginner’s heart is like that: I’m the one asking that my beginner’s heart be what it’s not — quieter, more disciplined, more reflective. All good things, and qualities I cultivate. But certainly not as much a part of me as passion, a hunger for equity, a fierce determination to ‘right’ things.

I’m Chinese Year of the Dragon — we’re known for being fighters. But a fighter can become an advocate. And passion can fuel social action. Like a service dog who chases birds can become a surfer riding wind & water… You just have to let go of attachment to what should be and look for what might be.

Sure you can drive all the way to the store in the right lane, w/out turning left. But it would be a lot simpler if you just let go. And changed lanes…