Nationality, to me, is about as important as political division, the religious spectrum, or the Superbowl; I accept that others think of it as valuable, but I myself choose not to be a part of it.

I’ve mentioned this a million and a half times, but I “practice” Soto Zen, which means that I consider even the most prominent ideologies to be entirely trivial to the course of finding the good life (which, yes, is paradoxically an ideology in and of itself). However, this is a process of silence; that is to say, my thoughts on matters are kept to myself, not because I prefer to be neutral, but because I don’t tend to actually have thoughts on matters. I simply don’t know what is correct or what is truly good, so I move on in harmless ignorance.

Now, in terms of nationality (next to the other three things I mentioned above), there’s a more biological aspect, which can be quite significant to some. I am of Irish, Dutch, German, Polish (etc.) descent; I have no idea what that means. Ask anyone in Armagh what they think it means to be Irish. Their answers may be similar here and there, but you’re going to get a different answer every single time. There is no correct response. After that, ask them what 2 + 2 is.

So what does it mean for me to be Irish, Dutch, German, Polish (etc.)? I like to write, meditate, and eat donuts.

Probably not the answer you were looking for, but when has Zen ever answered anything?