Bad Horse, Good Horse

In Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind, author Shunryū Suzuki asks, would you rather be a bad horse, or a good horse?

Naturally, we’d all want to be a good horse.

But—he says—it does not matter what we choose. And the bad horse is also better. This is Zen.

Likewise, bad parents are the best parents. A good childhood does not equip for life.

Parents? Horses? Where are we going?

Here: Imperfection is our carrot.