Once a year, our entire team takes part in a day of mindful knocking. We gather at dawn in the Mantel Studio. We sit in a circle. Master Oolong rings a small bell, and each of us is given a single object, which we hold in our attention for one hour.
At the second bell, we release them. All at once. The sound is like a rain of small bells, and for a moment, nobody breathes. Then Bao sneezes, and the spell is broken.
We spend the afternoon in conversation. We discuss what we released, and what we hope to release in the year ahead. This year the answers included a stapler, a trophy and, in Bao’s case, a sense of shame.
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