Lately I’ve been on a journey of self-discovery and cleansing, attempting to break old bad habits and dissolve limiting beliefs while building positive new ones. During this process, which is ongoing, I have discovered one tool that has proven to be more useful than any of the others I have tried so far. Meditation. (more…)
Last week I went to a meeting of pagans, a meetup group that gathers once a month at a local restaurant to eat and talk. A few weeks ago, someone in the group floated the idea of having a midsummers ball to celebrate the change. At that time I thought it was a great idea, though I didn’t really expect anyone to pull it off. Well, here we are, a little less than 2 weeks away from it, and I’m less than enthused. (more…)
I started this post a couple weeks ago, but due to illness and other matters, was unable to complete it at this time. Now that those are behind me, I should be back to posting more regularly than the last month or two.
Last week as I was thinking, one of the things I spent some time thinking about was my nature – what is primal to me, if there are things that are so ingrained in my character, or everyday expression of myself in the world that on some level they are inseparable from who I am. As is frequently the case with most questions of great importance, the answer is both yes and no, and both are true. Let me explain. (more…)
I was thinking deeply last week about some matters that are important to me. I’m sure the location of this thinking session is not big mystery, given my particular affinities. Originally this post was going to be title ‘the power of place,’ but after some reflection I’ve figured out that there’s more to it than just location. It’s a matter of who we are and where we’re at in our lives. (more…)
Last week was the first edition of this year’s Rhythms and Blooms, an event held at the local botanic gardens during the evening after work, when they are normally closed. Last week was a long one for me, due to being so busy both at work and personally. Most people have a place where they slow down and relax, step back and get perspective on things. For me, that happens to be the local botanic gardens, and I love being there at night, because I get different photos than I do during the day. (more…)
So says Master Oogway from Kung Fu Panda, along with a number of real life spiritual teachers. This last Friday was a rather long and intense day for me, and illustrative of this point, I think. Which is why I’ve decided to share it with you. (more…)
If someone were to ask me what my biggest challenge is, I would have to say it is remaining consistent over time, as my sensei has noted. In jujitsu, this has expressed itself as the tendency to not attend class regularly. I can give you any number of reasons why I have not done so, but the truth is, it’s a character flaw, plain and simple. I’m telling you this not because I’m proud of it, but because I need to think, and I do some of my best thinking while I’m writing, among other things. Maybe it would be more accurate to say I do some of my best thinking when I’m not actually thinking, or at least, not thinking about a particular subject. (more…)
Last Thursday was an interesting day, way too interesting for my taste. It started out well enough, and looked to be a very promising day – until I’d been at work for about 10 minutes and the day went to hell for a while. A hell of my own making, but hell nonetheless. Today, rather than letting it stay there and stewing about it, I decided to do something about it. (more…)
I recently finished reading Paulo Coelho’s excellent book The Alchemist. One of the things he spends some time talking about in the book is the idea that omens are the language of the world, a language spoken through the entire world, but unique to every individual, because every individual has a different dream they are trying to realize. Looking back on my life, I can see how omens have appeared at the important junctures, and how following them (or not) has affected my life. I bring this up because I am seeing them again, an indicator that something very important in my life is about to occur.
Let me start by apologizing for the time since my last post. I’ve been concentrating more on my jujitsu notebook and trying to get over a sinus infection, which has left little energy or desire to write. Now, on with the post. Lately I’ve been getting some messages from the universe, on a regular basis and some of them are becoming increasingly insistent. Perhaps the most pressing of these is that the universe is asking me to choose the main direction my life will take for some time to come. (more…)