The Art of Showing Up Every Day

The Pressures of Privilege

Jun 24 2026 | 00:02:05

00:00 / 00:02:05

Episode • June 24, 2026 • 00:02:05

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Show Notes

What if hitting the target was never the point?

In this solo episode of The Pressures of Privilege, host Diana Oehrli revisits a discipline she has kept since childhood: an art practiced every single day, the way her sensei once told her to brush her teeth. Drawing on Eugen Herrigel's 1948 classic Zen in the Art of Archery, the karate teachers who shaped her, and the piano instructors who caught her holding her breath through difficult passages, Diana shows you what daily practice is actually for.

She traces Herrigel's six years studying Japanese archery just to grasp Zen Buddhism, the moment his master warned him that aiming at the target guarantees he'll miss it, and the ki-ai, the single breath karate releases through a punch or a kick. Each thread leads to the same lesson: breath comes before precision. Together, they show you how to turn whatever art you keep returning to into daily proof that showing up matters more than getting it right.

If you've ever pushed so hard for a result that you forgot to breathe through getting there, this episode was made for you.

Chapters

(00:00:04) - The Art of Practicing an Art Every Day
(00:01:40) - How to Manage Your Wealth

Episode Transcript

[00:00:04] The art of showing up every day In a fast moving world, practicing an art can feel like a luxury. I think the opposite is true. Practice builds focus. [00:00:16] Practice, repetition and repetition of the repeated with ever increasing intensity are its distinctive features. For long stretches of the way, writes German philosopher Eugene Herigel in his 1948 book Zen in the Art of Archery. It took him six years of learning Japanese archery to understand Zen Buddhism. Every sensei I've studied under has said that practicing karate should be like brushing your teeth every day. My piano teacher said the same thing. Even 20 minutes count as long as you're focused on the hard passages. [00:00:50] But here's what surprised me most. In Herrigal's book, his master said that if your only goal is hitting the target, you won't hit it. [00:00:58] What you have to focus on is breath. [00:01:01] My last two piano teachers noticed I held my breath on difficult passages. [00:01:06] My shoulders tensed, my fingers tensed. My playing sounded jerky. They told me to sing the melody while I played. It reminded me to breathe. In karate, we call it kiai. The sound you hear when someone punches or kicks, its breath releasing all at once. [00:01:24] Take up an art practice every day. Don't forget to breathe. [00:01:31] If this episode landed for you, share it with someone who might need to hear it. And if you haven't already, subscribe so you don't miss what's coming. But here's the real thing. I want you to know if you're carrying something you can't talk about, if you have every resource except someone who actually understands what wealth costs. I work one on one with people like you, navigating exactly that. You can reach me at Diana O E H R L I Com. Thanks for listening.

The Art of Showing Up Every Day

Show Notes

Chapters

Episode Transcript

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