禅（ぜん）と習字（しゅうじ）

４歳（さい）から習字（しゅうじ）を練習（れんしゅう）しています、今もときどき書きます。
Calligraphy to me is a form of training the mind. The usual style I practice requires rigorous attention to symmetry and structural layout of both individual characters and the whole piece. Hence, we restrain our mind to be peacefully balanced and focused throughout the writing process.

Recently, due to my interest in Japanese culture, particularly Zen, I started to look into another way of mind training by Bokuseki.

墨跡（ぼくせき）, a form of Japanese Zen calligraphy, is often characterized by assertive and abstract brush strokes to demonstrate the calligrapher's pure state of mind.

The work below is by a Zen calligrapher, 一休宗純（いっきゅ　そうじゅん）. There are no restrictions as to the structure or style of each character. His work shows the free flow of thoughts and the undisrupted nature of his mental state.

My favorite Chinese calligrapher, also the most well known in history, Wang Xizhi, wrote his best piece while he was drunk and mentally free, the Orchid Pavilion Gathering.

I grew really interested in this form of calligraphy and practiced a bit. Below is a quote I found online from my favorite Japanese writer, Haruki Murakami (春樹村上).

While practicing, it does make you feel your thoughts are flowing more freely!

Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional.