Jude: I too hope you stick around. I for one don't feel I keep my meditation commitment perfectly. Busy schedules and my own distracted hamster-wheel mind get in the way too often. But just having it there gets me back on track more quickly when I do fall off.
Brenda: Wishing you courage. Non-attachment at times like this can be tricky .. trusting that things will work out for the highest good for you.
Beth: I do hope your mother's health situation is manageable now and that you can enjoy the Easter break. And thank you for your kind words.
Like Lorianne, I'm back with yoga.I did a class last night, and - a bit like Nicole with the meditation - I was so energy-filled afterwards it wasn't easy to sleep. Worth it though.
Feeling OK. I too work as a temp some of the time and have been without an assignment this week and am not sure if I will have one next week. Like Jean I can find the transition from time which is very structured by others to time where I have to create my own structure to be potentially problematic. I find it helps to look at it is part of a meditative or spiritual practice, carrying over from my meditation times ..
On that note, must go and get ready to meditate ... wishing everyone a good and peaceful day.
Good morning everyone (and early afternoon in Europe, I know!)
Mary, Jean: ditto on what you said about transitions. This has always been a problem for me and an inherent part of my self-employed life - but for years I barely recognized why I would get depressed or cross at those times, since it tended to be greater when I found myself with extra time, which I had, of course, been craving when too busy! I think I will soon have a period like that after nearly two years of having something pressing to do even when work pressure let up, and I'm trying to anticipate the problems and head them off. Wishing you both luck with that.
This is Good Friday, a day I've nearly always (even when out of the church) observed in contemplation and quietness. But I'm so sad about my mother that I don't feel up to it in a formal way: it's felt like every day lately had the same mixed feelings of anger at the unfair, capricious nature of life; grief; reaching deep for strength and equanimity; and gratitude.
Negotiations and decisions may drag out over a few weeks though because of working, and getting home late because walking - Jean, you'd be proud of me, the walk home is 3.6 miles or 5.8 km - and my rest afterwards last night was broken by leg cramps. :)
Beth it must be most difficult for you to be close yet far from your mother... I hope the health crisis she is in lifts.
So far I've only had water today, so I may be starting a fast. Last Spring I did a 2 day one, but my kids were home, and it was too difficult. I had a quest that time, on my work situation. And thought I understood it from another vantage and had a way through. A year later, it hasn't happened.
Sometimes I think that, despite my willingness to throw myself into any job, because nothing has manifested other than always being able to just maintain ourselves, for which I am deeply grateful, that I am stuck on the path of the artist. That's what's left by a process of elimination. I can write and I can paint, and there doesn't seem to be much else to do with my time. Sending resumes out, applying for jobs, calling agencies, none of it ever produces much of a response.
But then why don't I write and paint?
It's all very impossible, these questions.
This group is beautiful. I love reading the comments - how we all love each other!
Today's warthog reporting in. I've been off track all week with more than just meditation and, despite reading posts here, am overcoming considerable personal resistance to say something here, now, to fess up and repair commitment to meditation today. It's not clear to me why consistency remains so utterly impossible for me. Ugh.
Much love to those several of you friends facing difficulties. And Jude, I'm glad you are sticking around.
With the start of a new 100 Days tomorrow, I’ll renew my commitment and change it a bit … to sit first thing in the morning rather than squeezing in 15 minutes here or there thoughout the day. Much talk lately about unstructured/structured time … my strong tendency to laziness during unstructured time is a big hindrance … so I’ll begin again tomorrow morning
On Sunday I’ll go to my regular meditation group, led by a Zen monk at the Roman Catholic seminary … such a wonderful mixture of participants from different faiths … forty minutes sitting and a long, slow walking meditation in the labyrinth, then tea and talk
This is a universal prayer found at John’s blog “My Zen Life”. I like it so much and thought you might enjoy it also:
May faith in the spirit of life, Hope for the community of earth, And love for the sacred in one another Be ours, now and in the days to come. ~ Unknown
John said he found it at Woodmoor Village Zendo … on the home page, these beautiful words:
The temple bell stops, but the sounds keeps coming out of the flowers
thank you, Mary, for the entry on your blog about Katherine Mansfield … and writing about the ordinariness of everyday … I’m waiting rather impatiently now for her ‘Letters and Journals’ to arrive at our local library … the record on my account says it’s 'in transit'
My tired brain has gone on strike -no words. But I'm sitting here next to you, and will be tomorrow to start another 100 days.
Today I looked at wood anemones, white stars on a deep green, sun-dappled background. No words needed. I can see them when I close my eyes - the jewel in the heart of the wood anemone?
A quick Hi & Hugs to everyone. I've been battling technical difficulties, so this morning was wasted Not Gettting Done a bit of work that should have taken about an hour to finish. grrr....
But, this afternoon the Wellness folks at KSC had arranged a visit from the traveling labryinth, which I've walked the other couple of times it's visited. So at least in the midst of my tech troubles, I found a spot of sanity under each footstep.
I found myself ebbing away, and so I fasted. When my committment to life renewed itself, I broke my fast. Again I feel joy, optimism, hope, the sparkle of.
8 Comments:
Good morning all.
Jude: I too hope you stick around. I for one don't feel I keep my meditation commitment perfectly. Busy schedules and my own distracted hamster-wheel mind get in the way too often. But just having it there gets me back on track more quickly when I do fall off.
Brenda: Wishing you courage. Non-attachment at times like this can be tricky .. trusting that things will work out for the highest good for you.
Beth: I do hope your mother's health situation is manageable now and that you can enjoy the Easter break. And thank you for your kind words.
Like Lorianne, I'm back with yoga.I did a class last night, and - a bit like Nicole with the meditation - I was so energy-filled afterwards it wasn't easy to sleep. Worth it though.
Feeling OK. I too work as a temp some of the time and have been without an assignment this week and am not sure if I will have one next week. Like Jean I can find the transition from time which is very structured by others to time where I have to create my own structure to be potentially problematic. I find it helps to look at it is part of a meditative or spiritual practice, carrying over from my meditation times ..
On that note, must go and get ready to meditate ... wishing everyone a good and peaceful day.
Good morning everyone (and early afternoon in Europe, I know!)
Mary, Jean: ditto on what you said about transitions. This has always been a problem for me and an inherent part of my self-employed life - but for years I barely recognized why I would get depressed or cross at those times, since it tended to be greater when I found myself with extra time, which I had, of course, been craving when too busy! I think I will soon have a period like that after nearly two years of having something pressing to do even when work pressure let up, and I'm trying to anticipate the problems and head them off. Wishing you both luck with that.
This is Good Friday, a day I've nearly always (even when out of the church) observed in contemplation and quietness. But I'm so sad about my mother that I don't feel up to it in a formal way: it's felt like every day lately had the same mixed feelings of anger at the unfair, capricious nature of life; grief; reaching deep for strength and equanimity; and gratitude.
Thank you all for your support and kindness...
Negotiations and decisions may drag out over a few weeks though because of working, and getting home late because walking - Jean, you'd be proud of me, the walk home is 3.6 miles or 5.8 km - and my rest afterwards last night was broken by leg cramps. :)
Beth it must be most difficult for you to be close yet far from your mother... I hope the health crisis she is in lifts.
So far I've only had water today, so I may be starting a fast. Last Spring I did a 2 day one, but my kids were home, and it was too difficult. I had a quest that time, on my work situation. And thought I understood it from another vantage and had a way through. A year later, it hasn't happened.
Sometimes I think that, despite my willingness to throw myself into any job, because nothing has manifested other than always being able to just maintain ourselves, for which I am deeply grateful, that I am stuck on the path of the artist. That's what's left by a process of elimination. I can write and I can paint, and there doesn't seem to be much else to do with my time. Sending resumes out, applying for jobs, calling agencies, none of it ever produces much of a response.
But then why don't I write and paint?
It's all very impossible, these questions.
This group is beautiful. I love reading the comments - how we all love each other!
Today's warthog reporting in. I've been off track all week with more than just meditation and, despite reading posts here, am overcoming considerable personal resistance to say something here, now, to fess up and repair commitment to meditation today. It's not clear to me why consistency remains so utterly impossible for me. Ugh.
Much love to those several of you friends facing difficulties. And Jude, I'm glad you are sticking around.
With the start of a new 100 Days tomorrow, I’ll renew my commitment and change it a bit … to sit first thing in the morning rather than squeezing in 15 minutes here or there thoughout the day. Much talk lately about unstructured/structured time … my strong tendency to laziness during unstructured time is a big hindrance … so I’ll begin again tomorrow morning
On Sunday I’ll go to my regular meditation group, led by a Zen monk at the Roman Catholic seminary … such a wonderful mixture of participants from different faiths … forty minutes sitting and a long, slow walking meditation in the labyrinth, then tea and talk
This is a universal prayer found at John’s blog “My Zen Life”. I like it so much and thought you might enjoy it also:
May faith in the spirit of life,
Hope for the community of earth,
And love for the sacred in one another
Be ours, now and in the days to come.
~ Unknown
John said he found it at Woodmoor Village Zendo … on the home page, these beautiful words:
The temple bell stops,
but the sounds keeps coming
out of the flowers
thank you, Mary, for the entry on your blog about Katherine Mansfield … and writing about the ordinariness of everyday … I’m waiting rather impatiently now for her ‘Letters and Journals’ to arrive at our local library … the record on my account says it’s 'in transit'
My tired brain has gone on strike -no words. But I'm sitting here next to you, and will be tomorrow to start another 100 days.
Today I looked at wood anemones, white stars on a deep green, sun-dappled background. No words needed. I can see them when I close my eyes - the jewel in the heart of the wood anemone?
A quick Hi & Hugs to everyone. I've been battling technical difficulties, so this morning was wasted Not Gettting Done a bit of work that should have taken about an hour to finish. grrr....
But, this afternoon the Wellness folks at KSC had arranged a visit from the traveling labryinth, which I've walked the other couple of times it's visited. So at least in the midst of my tech troubles, I found a spot of sanity under each footstep.
I found myself ebbing away, and so I fasted. When my committment to life renewed itself, I broke my fast. Again I feel joy, optimism, hope, the sparkle of.
Love graciously flows.
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