So, what happened to me?

Nervous exhaustion. Hospitalization. Home recovering.

I'm what you may call overscheduled. I'm also what you may call manic as far as taking on too much too quickly. I seem to think there are more of me than there actually are. In reality, I am one person. But I schedule myself like I'm at least three.

So something had to give. And give it did.

I'm getting back up to speed, and spirituality is proving to be even more important now. I attended my first ever service at a local Unitarian Universalist Church this past Sunday, and I can't recall ever feeling more at home in any church environment. Could be I've found at least the gateway to my path.

In the meantime, I'm existing, trying not to push myself at all at least until I'm fully on both feet again.

I'll resume regular postings here now. I missed this blog a lot, I truly did. It's already proving to be a great lifeline for me. And we all need those from time to time.

Ask a Buddhist Monk!

This totally rules.

Sunday Overview

I'm not a Sunday church-goer. I'm not a church-goer at all, but somehow this day still seems appropriate as a summing up day for things spiritual.


I'm not sure how well I did with patience this week. It's not my strong suit anyway, and no one week of thinking about it (along with about 1,000 other things) is really going to make a huge impact in my life. But putting it center stage is never a bad thing. I'm sure I learned something. I just don't know what. If nothing else, I learned to be mindful of it. I added the topic to my written journal and I've been exploring that and many other topics.


I'm busy as hell with reviewing work, and also interviewing authors. I have them queued up and if I don't send them their interview questions soon they'll get miffed. And who can blame them? I did get one review done, and another sent out.

Life is frantic, and starting next week (with the new semester of my grad school work) it will only get worse. I'm signing up for a meditation class on January 25. I'll take an "easy" yoga class just before, then stay for meditation. I am so looking forward to this. I know it will be a very positive experience and hopefully it will lead to more classes until I feel I can wing it on my own.

So I guess I'd say this week has been frantic, and I'm not sure how conducive to things Zen it's really been, but a start is a start. A journey of a thousand miles, etc. I give myself my stamp of approval for that, and I continue to look forward.

Namaste.

Better than the average bear. Hey, Boo Boo!

Once upon a time I practiced yoga regularly. By regularly I mean at least twice a week, dependent on when the classes were offered at my health club. The practice of yoga is much more than just the physical. It's a whole philosophical system devoted to the mind-body connection and exuding the peace you find into the world.

In short, it ain't just a class.

I never perfected myself with yoga, never completely got into the philosophy and managed to successfully integrate it into my life. But last night I attended the first yoga class I've been to in at least two years. It's step one toward getting myself and my life back on track.

Later this month I'll attend another yoga class, followed immediately by a class on meditation, at the same studio. Between now and then I have to have an injured shoulder looked at, and possibly have an MRI on it. And, well, if that requires any sort of surgical intervention that'll pretty much put the kabash on yoga for a while. But meditation, that I can still do.

I'm pretty proud of myself for getting out to that class last night. It was snowy and cold, and I got out and just did it.

Nike would be proud.

From: Zen and the Art of Happiness

"The path that has led to your current condition and situation was not a few days or months in the making, but a long and arduous path that has spanned many years. Actually, it has taken you as long as you've been alive to become the way you are. It has also taken you that long to achieve what you have achieved, to possess what you now possess, and to arrive at your current condition. Your life today is the result of a series of decisions that you made that have caused you to arrive where you are."

Instant Karma!

What a treasure Barbara Ann Kipfer's book is. 8,879 ways to increase my good karma? That's even more opportunities than the title character from My Name is Earl.

I am SO set for life.

So, here's the deal. I'm going to post one of these precepts per Instant Karma! post, then talk about how it applies to my life. If, during the course of centering on this mantra/thought/higher principle something happens to illustrate how I've learned and grown as a result I'll post about that, too.

Later we'll serve juice and cookies. It'll be great!

INSTANT KARMA! TODAY:

"Wait for a door to be unlocked instead of trying to break it down."

Hmm. Okay. Taking this one as a metaphor, I suppose the point is patience. And yeah, lack of patience is one of my biggest failings sometimes. I can be like a toddler that way. Sad, but true. I see something, it looks like fun to play with, I WANT IT!

Now, I'm not like that with everything. I have certain weaknesses, as do we all. But in the Zen tradition the goal is not to focus on material possessions, or possessions PERIOD. Appreciate them, sure, but don't get so caught up in them they rule you.

Alright. I can handle a few days' worth of keeping this one in mind. Patience is a virtue. It's sometimes an annoying one, but it is a virtue.

Let's see how I do with this one, shall we?

I need a new blog like I need a(nother) hole in my head

One thing about blogging, it keeps me regular. No, no, no. Not regular as opposed to constipated. Nothing so crass as that. I mean regular as in posting regularly, organizing my schedule in a more efficient way. Crap like that.

I've been blogging on my OTHER blog for, oh, a couple years now. That blog is my freelance writing/photography/whining blog. I didn't think the material I'll be writing hear really fit over there, thus the creation of this separate blog. Here the focus will be pinpoint accurate, zoning in on all matters spiritual related to MY GREAT QUEST. And there'll be whining here, too, just to break the monotony.

One of my major life goals, starting in 2008, involves the pursuit of spiritual enlightenment. I'm not religious per se, but I do have a strong connection to things spiritual. That doesn't mean I don't live in the modern era, have satellite TV and swear a lot. Dammit. It just means I'm very interested in the BIG PICTURE, how we all got here, what's out there. Stuff like that.

I'm not saying I'm New Age-y. Then again, I'm not saying I'm NOT, either. What I am saying is I still have a long way to go toward understanding the Universe and everything, and I'm very interested in learning all I can with the aim of achieving a measure of peace, contentment and understanding.

Starting pretty much, well, NOW I'll be recording my thoughts gleaned from books written on the various spiritually-related subjects. I'm also going to visit a local Unitarian Church to see what that's all about. No other established church I know of comes anywhere near fitting the bill for me. Only a church that welcomes everyone, and shuns no one, could ever be an institution I'd patronize on a semi-regular basis (about as often as I'd plan to go anywhere).

So, we'll see how it goes. Ask me no questions, I'll tell you no lies. Snatch this pebble from my hand, Grasshopper!

Whatever.