There is a story in the Zen tradition of a priest who maintained a beautiful garden in a large Zen temple. The priest worked tirelessly in the garden, raking the soil, pruning the trees, and manicuring the grass and flowers. He wanted it to be perfect for the temple visitors.

Next to the large temple was a much smaller temple, in which lived an old Zen monk. Every day when the priest came to work in the garden, the old monk would observe the priest’s efforts.

One autumn day, the priest was expecting some special guests at the temple. The old monk watched the priest work himself to exhaustion trimming the shrubs with precision, carefully raking leaves into a neat pile, and picking up every stray twig and flower petal. When he was done, he admired his work. Everything was perfect. He called out to the old monk, “Doesn’t this look beautiful?!”

“Yes, it is beautiful,” agreed the old monk. “But I can help you make it even better.” The old monk walked across the garden to a tree and shook it vigorously. A hundred leaves fell across the immaculate garden. “There, much better!” exclaimed the monk.

There is beauty in imperfection, even when it comes to the messiness that is your life. Can you allow yourself to be as you are--fully human? Can you appreciate that you are a “perfect work in progress”? According to meditation teacher Rob Nairn, the goal of these practices is to become a “compassionate mess.” 

The following guided exercise is an experiment in “loving your mess.” The exercise invites you to visualize a place in nature, but if you have the opportunity, you can do this exercise while you are physically out in nature (preferably a place with little or no human impact).