Creating your own zen

CREATING YOUR OWN ZEN

A LOOK AT THE EARL BURNS MILLER JAPANESE GARDEN

Written by Scott Carso

The Earl Burns Miller Japanese Garden is one of the many hidden gems on the LBSU campus. Whether the name sounds unfamiliar or rings a bell, many students might not actually know where it is, how to get in or how much it costs. I would like to shed some light on those questions and help make this amazing place on campus more accessible for students who may not know all of the details. When I imagine the Japanese garden I think of it being between the Hillside and Parkside dorms; it’s not blatantly advertised so it’s easy to forget about when rushing to class or frantically looking for a parking spot before your morning class. But it is somewhere you can go and leave smiling knowing it is a part of our campus that you can always return to. I wanted to share what the garden means to me as well as some of the changes that it has undergone since I first visited in 2018.

In different times of my life and my academic career the garden has meant different things to me. But one thing that has not changed is the way I feel when in the Japanese garden: an overwhelming peace, difficult for me to articulate into words. At times I am reminded of different sensations I have felt in the garden: seeing the stillness of the pond water without a single ripple or if you were to feed the koi fish the chaotic energy as they fight for your attention, thrashing in the water making their best case for why they deserve that piece of the food; the bridges, both as architectural wonders and the way the wood sounds under my feet; the memories of the friends I ran into there or made plans with to go together for a photoshoot or to unwind after taking a midterm exam. The plants, trees and shrubbery make me feel human; it’s a momentary escape from the stresses of school and life.

To attend the Japanese Garden you need a reservation beforehand which can be made either on their app “CSULB Japanese Garden” or on their website portal at https://japanesegarden.innosoftfusion. com/. Reservation slots are usually available Tuesday to Friday from 10 am- 5 pm and Saturday to Sunday 9 am- 1 pm. Reservations are currently free to make! This may be subject to change, but the best way to check for the most up to date information is either the app or the Japanese Garden website portal.

As I previously mentioned, coming back consistently to the Japanese garden over the course of several years has led me to tie up a lot of different memories and feelings into it. Even before I was planning to write this article, I felt a visit to the garden had been long overdue and writing this gave me an excuse to go take a few hours from my hectic schedule to recharge in a place I find calming. Ironically, because of the heavy rain and inconsistent weather we’ve been experiencing these past few weeks (I guess March & April showers will bring May flowers!), I have not been able to visit the garden as much of it is outdoors and uncovered.

Being able to laugh at yourself and not take everything always so seriously is crucial. Having a physical location that you feel safe, calm and at peace is a priority, but I think creating your own safe space anywhere is an amazing thing to be able to do. Sometimes looking for the bright side of a rainy day and putting effort into trying to have a positive mindset leads to much more personal happiness than dwelling on things that are out of our control. Being able to enjoy the rainy days and splash in the puddles and laugh at yourself when the situation is something that all you can do is be sad about it can make you sit back and laugh at how much pressure we all put on ourselves and others.

I have found this intentional shift in mindset has helped me deal with situations or times in my life where it was raining. Times where I had a plan or an idea of how things would go or how I wanted things to go and for whatever reason out of my control they did not go that way. Laughing isn’t the only thing you could do: you could hang out with a friend you haven’t seen in a while or join an extracurricular activity, volunteer or find a way to maybe help someone else who is also having a hard time, or just call it a day and take a rain check and put on pajamas and wrap up in a blanket and enjoy a nice book or show. Having a time or a place of peace is so important for self-preservation. At times it can feel as if we have the weight of the world on our shoulders; everyone’s experience is different but I think that having to worry about grades, finances, figuring out a major, a career path within a field, family responsibilities and so much more it is a lot for one person to deal with. That is why I think creating a space where you feel happy, safe, and calm is so important for life to be personally sustainable.