Today is the beginning of this new year, this new decade.
Isn't it strange how we seem to have nurtured this interesting tradition referred to as new year's resolutions -- making and breaking them. Why? Do we believe that the first day of a new year is a new start? Why don't we believe that each new day can be a new beginning? Why not think that about each moment?
Maybe that is why new year's resolutions get broken -- because we make them, intending to keep them, but we don't renew our intentions to keep them, moving forward through time, moment to moment, day to day. There is something to living in the moment, in the "right now", in living with intention.
I'm not sure I would even have the discipline to do so. Even if I did, how could that be managed with many resolutions. Imagine keeping all those goals moving from moment to moment. Is that even possible? Maybe we just need to choose one and then meet it with sincere and committed intention as we move through our minutes, days and months. But, then again, maybe it is just good enough to set goals, to think about changes we want to make. Maybe we move mountains gradually, slowly, by making conscious choices to become aware that change needs to happen. Change begins with awareness. In fact, it cannot happen without it.
So we become aware, make the choice to change, verbalize our intention to the universe and then actualize it. If we fully commit to this process then how can we keep it going? How can we measure results in our forward progression? How can we "stay awake" so that many months from now we do not look back and lament the loss of focus on these opportunities to change, to grow, to transform.
Are our resolutions unrealistic? Are they too huge? Maybe we need to take a big change, break it down and then create "baby step" resolutions -- ones that we know we can commit to, that we can meet with intention from moment to moment. Maybe if we slip up, we can be gentle with ourselves and re-affirm the resolution rather than sinking the ship or pronouncing immediate failure.
A new year. Many new opportunities. A day just like yesterday, only different. Changes made, changes hoped for, changes to come. Evolving transformation. Awareness and renewal. Intention and commitment.
New. Year. Decade. Awareness. Change. Process. Intention. Commitment. Resolutions.
Where are you at? Where are you going? Where and when will you arrive? Will you ever arrive? How will you get there?
Friday, January 1, 2010
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
At Play...with Words
I have a day job. I like it. I like the people I work with and I love that I work in an institution of higher learning.
But the real me comes out to play when the house has gone to sleep. When all is quiet and sounds that disappear in the noise of the day, now magically magnify. The heater sounds like a dull roar, the refrigerator produces an annoying hum or whine, the dogs whimper in sleep dreaming of those elusive balls they are running to catch. But most of all, I love the quiet. In the blanket of darkness, it surrounds me.
Often my mind refuses to obey the nightly command to silence itself, stubbornly remaining active and noisy. Now, the muse can come out to play....with words...to try to make sense of what doesn't make sense.
I think what I love the most about writing is that I never know where I'm going to end up when I start. I am on a journey...and just like Robert Frost laments in his famous tale of two roads, I venture down one or the other, never to return again. Sometimes it reminds me of a conversation -- have you ever noticed that you start with one thought shared in conversation which then in turn triggers another thought and then before you know it, you are at six degrees of separation -- wondering how you wandered so far from where you started. Maybe writing is a conversation with myself -- I mean, we as writers may be a little delusional thinking we are communicating with our audience of readers, but are we? Really? When two are speaking it is referred to as a "dialogue" -- "dia" meaning "two" -- talking between two parties -- but as a writer engaging in this solo task aren't we just engaging in a "monologue"? "mono" meaning one, alone.
When we have a conversation with someone, often our ideas with generate sparks of ideas in the thinking of the other person and then what we end up with is "dynamic". Have you ever been in a conversation with someone who monopolizes the conversation, never allowing you to speak? Does that not feel like they are conducting a monologue? Don't you start to wonder what you are doing there? What your purpose is in that conversation? Are you just the paid spectator in a "one man or woman show"? Are they on stage, you having been assigned the role of captive audience?
So what about writing? If the writer is writing to communicate then how does the reader interact with the writer to cause the meandering of thought patterns? How is perception changed or more importantly, challenged? Is not then, writing a form of acting up-on the stage of life, so that the rest of us can observe. I wonder....
What do you think?
But the real me comes out to play when the house has gone to sleep. When all is quiet and sounds that disappear in the noise of the day, now magically magnify. The heater sounds like a dull roar, the refrigerator produces an annoying hum or whine, the dogs whimper in sleep dreaming of those elusive balls they are running to catch. But most of all, I love the quiet. In the blanket of darkness, it surrounds me.
Often my mind refuses to obey the nightly command to silence itself, stubbornly remaining active and noisy. Now, the muse can come out to play....with words...to try to make sense of what doesn't make sense.
I think what I love the most about writing is that I never know where I'm going to end up when I start. I am on a journey...and just like Robert Frost laments in his famous tale of two roads, I venture down one or the other, never to return again. Sometimes it reminds me of a conversation -- have you ever noticed that you start with one thought shared in conversation which then in turn triggers another thought and then before you know it, you are at six degrees of separation -- wondering how you wandered so far from where you started. Maybe writing is a conversation with myself -- I mean, we as writers may be a little delusional thinking we are communicating with our audience of readers, but are we? Really? When two are speaking it is referred to as a "dialogue" -- "dia" meaning "two" -- talking between two parties -- but as a writer engaging in this solo task aren't we just engaging in a "monologue"? "mono" meaning one, alone.
When we have a conversation with someone, often our ideas with generate sparks of ideas in the thinking of the other person and then what we end up with is "dynamic". Have you ever been in a conversation with someone who monopolizes the conversation, never allowing you to speak? Does that not feel like they are conducting a monologue? Don't you start to wonder what you are doing there? What your purpose is in that conversation? Are you just the paid spectator in a "one man or woman show"? Are they on stage, you having been assigned the role of captive audience?
So what about writing? If the writer is writing to communicate then how does the reader interact with the writer to cause the meandering of thought patterns? How is perception changed or more importantly, challenged? Is not then, writing a form of acting up-on the stage of life, so that the rest of us can observe. I wonder....
What do you think?
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Giving Thanks – Today
Some may have come to experience Thanksgiving as just another holiday – another unique American cliché. Maybe we all get caught up in shopping at crowded grocery stores, cooking turkeys and side dishes, cleaning volumes of dirty dishes, pots and pans, immersing ourselves in those Black Friday sales circulars, strategizing on how to increase our material storehouse of “things”, and then before we know it the day is done, we are exhausted. Another day here and gone.
But maybe there is another way – maybe this Thanksgiving we can stop, take a look around us, pause to stay “in the moment”, practicing gratitude. The deeper meaning of this day calls out to us – an opportunity to connect to those who are important to us, in our lives – family, friends, soldiers serving overseas, teachers who teach with passion, doctors who save lives, boy scout leaders who continue to touch the lives of young men, neighbors who lend more than just their “cup of sugar”, children who are more than just offspring that we are obligated to raise, partners who are there for us in big and small ways every single day, friends and loved ones who have passed on, the lonely, elderly, feeble and sick who need us. It is no accident that many choose to leave us, voluntarily, around the holidays – it is the time when loneliness can strike most profoundly.
So, today is a day that gives us the opportunity to remember that we can give thanks – verbally and through our actions – whether it be cooking meals for our loved ones, giving hugs, acknowledging the love that others have shown us, expressing gratitude. Here is a thought though – maybe the reason we celebrate this day is simply to remind us that this is a practice we can engage in every single day. Maybe we can choose to take on an attitude of gratitude. In these challenging times, maybe this is the healing thread that can pull us together, underscore our strength as a nation, and create the peace and contentment that seems to elude us. Today many are reaching out – a colleague who is running a 5K for Father Joe and the hungry homeless; a university comptroller who reflects on the children in Nigeria and other 3rd world countries that his family helps to support and gets regular progress updates on; neighbors/friends cooking turkeys for families with cancer stricken mothers and those recently hospitalized; those that are taking time to reflect on how blessed they are to have friends and colleagues that care; veterans who collect for our soldiers serving in an arid desert with lonely families left behind to feel the daily loss. In so many ways we can take Thanksgiving and make it a part of our daily ritual. Scientific studies show giving thanks and expressing gratitude increase our health, happiness and well-being. Love begets love. And so the ripple spreads in the pond of this human race.
Yes, today is Thanksgiving Day – an American tradition, but maybe, just maybe, we can start a tradition of giving thanks every day.
Today and every day, I would like to express gratitude for all I have, all I am and for those friends (human and four-legged ones) who I have, have had and lost touch with, for those who friendship is new and will continue to grow into the future. Please know that you have touched my life irrevocably and my heart and soul are forever changed by your unique presence and participation in my life. I am richer and better for having known you and this will continue for as long as I continue to draw breath and thereafter.
Thank you.
“Every day we have the opportunity to choose an attitude of gratitude”.
If you choose to, please share your thoughts of thankfulness and gratitude.
Some may have come to experience Thanksgiving as just another holiday – another unique American cliché. Maybe we all get caught up in shopping at crowded grocery stores, cooking turkeys and side dishes, cleaning volumes of dirty dishes, pots and pans, immersing ourselves in those Black Friday sales circulars, strategizing on how to increase our material storehouse of “things”, and then before we know it the day is done, we are exhausted. Another day here and gone.
But maybe there is another way – maybe this Thanksgiving we can stop, take a look around us, pause to stay “in the moment”, practicing gratitude. The deeper meaning of this day calls out to us – an opportunity to connect to those who are important to us, in our lives – family, friends, soldiers serving overseas, teachers who teach with passion, doctors who save lives, boy scout leaders who continue to touch the lives of young men, neighbors who lend more than just their “cup of sugar”, children who are more than just offspring that we are obligated to raise, partners who are there for us in big and small ways every single day, friends and loved ones who have passed on, the lonely, elderly, feeble and sick who need us. It is no accident that many choose to leave us, voluntarily, around the holidays – it is the time when loneliness can strike most profoundly.
So, today is a day that gives us the opportunity to remember that we can give thanks – verbally and through our actions – whether it be cooking meals for our loved ones, giving hugs, acknowledging the love that others have shown us, expressing gratitude. Here is a thought though – maybe the reason we celebrate this day is simply to remind us that this is a practice we can engage in every single day. Maybe we can choose to take on an attitude of gratitude. In these challenging times, maybe this is the healing thread that can pull us together, underscore our strength as a nation, and create the peace and contentment that seems to elude us. Today many are reaching out – a colleague who is running a 5K for Father Joe and the hungry homeless; a university comptroller who reflects on the children in Nigeria and other 3rd world countries that his family helps to support and gets regular progress updates on; neighbors/friends cooking turkeys for families with cancer stricken mothers and those recently hospitalized; those that are taking time to reflect on how blessed they are to have friends and colleagues that care; veterans who collect for our soldiers serving in an arid desert with lonely families left behind to feel the daily loss. In so many ways we can take Thanksgiving and make it a part of our daily ritual. Scientific studies show giving thanks and expressing gratitude increase our health, happiness and well-being. Love begets love. And so the ripple spreads in the pond of this human race.
Yes, today is Thanksgiving Day – an American tradition, but maybe, just maybe, we can start a tradition of giving thanks every day.
Today and every day, I would like to express gratitude for all I have, all I am and for those friends (human and four-legged ones) who I have, have had and lost touch with, for those who friendship is new and will continue to grow into the future. Please know that you have touched my life irrevocably and my heart and soul are forever changed by your unique presence and participation in my life. I am richer and better for having known you and this will continue for as long as I continue to draw breath and thereafter.
Thank you.
“Every day we have the opportunity to choose an attitude of gratitude”.
If you choose to, please share your thoughts of thankfulness and gratitude.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Memories -- fragments of time...
What creates these fragments of vision that make up our lives?
What triggers these flashbacks which can instantly transport us back in time to the sights, sounds, and sounds of story? a melody/song on the radio, a photograph, apple pie baking...
Can we cause memories to re-appear at will? Can we force that action with successful results?
What pockets of the brain contain these images binding them together with the emotion, the sensual imprint that bind them forever to that moment in time?
Why do we remember some moemnts, but not others? Is it emotion that creates significance?
Are memories like snowflakes -- each unique and individual one based on our perceptions at the time, how we color our world? Are they a snapshot in time reflecting a transformative moment?
Why is it that two people who experience the same story remember it differently? Does sensory input govern the choices we make in how we remember? the how, what, and why of that moment. Do words or language limit our ability to communicate accurately that vision that is so personal to us -- our memories?
Can one person's memory help to trigger another person's -- much like a conversation begins at a starting place, meanders along and arrives at a brand new unexpected destination.
Can we consciously choose our current memories and if so, what determines if we will remember what we have chosen to remember, years from now?
What does it feel like to lose our memories, to search for and not find them, the more we attempt to grasp and hold on to them, the more they elude us, the very pursuit becoming an exercise in futility. Is this why we fear alzheimers so much? Can there be anything more frightening than not having these markers in time relate our life story to the passage of time.
Conversely, how can we forget moments of agony, moments of excruciating embarrassment, moments of extreme fear, of deep regret?
Why do memories of loved ones lost... fade -- their voice, inflections, gestures, expressions? We grasp and yet they seem to elude our grasp -- a partial price to pay as we grieve.
Moments of pure joy and passion infused interactions with nature, loved ones or friends -- those moments we that we long to re-capture -- that we dearly wish to re-live, to re-experience, to re-turn to...Memories.
What triggers these flashbacks which can instantly transport us back in time to the sights, sounds, and sounds of story? a melody/song on the radio, a photograph, apple pie baking...
Can we cause memories to re-appear at will? Can we force that action with successful results?
What pockets of the brain contain these images binding them together with the emotion, the sensual imprint that bind them forever to that moment in time?
Why do we remember some moemnts, but not others? Is it emotion that creates significance?
Are memories like snowflakes -- each unique and individual one based on our perceptions at the time, how we color our world? Are they a snapshot in time reflecting a transformative moment?
Why is it that two people who experience the same story remember it differently? Does sensory input govern the choices we make in how we remember? the how, what, and why of that moment. Do words or language limit our ability to communicate accurately that vision that is so personal to us -- our memories?
Can one person's memory help to trigger another person's -- much like a conversation begins at a starting place, meanders along and arrives at a brand new unexpected destination.
Can we consciously choose our current memories and if so, what determines if we will remember what we have chosen to remember, years from now?
What does it feel like to lose our memories, to search for and not find them, the more we attempt to grasp and hold on to them, the more they elude us, the very pursuit becoming an exercise in futility. Is this why we fear alzheimers so much? Can there be anything more frightening than not having these markers in time relate our life story to the passage of time.
Conversely, how can we forget moments of agony, moments of excruciating embarrassment, moments of extreme fear, of deep regret?
Why do memories of loved ones lost... fade -- their voice, inflections, gestures, expressions? We grasp and yet they seem to elude our grasp -- a partial price to pay as we grieve.
Moments of pure joy and passion infused interactions with nature, loved ones or friends -- those moments we that we long to re-capture -- that we dearly wish to re-live, to re-experience, to re-turn to...Memories.
Time out and the inevitable return of the drive to share...
Some of you may have thought I disappeared -- that I have let this endeavor fade into obscurity. I have not.
For those friends who have missed these random thoughts, thanks for letting it be known. I will re-commit to sharing thoughts with all of you.
It was, and still is, my fervent hope that this be a forum of sharing -- however, given the reality of our busy lives, I completely understand silence. If y'all just want to read and ponder that is fine. Maybe courage will strike in the future and you will feel driven to respond, to share, to create, to cause laughter.
If not, lives spent in quiet contemplation without needing to have one's voice raised is also that balance to the noise that pulls us away from inner discovery and keeps us from the path of thoughts leading us to profound and not so profound conclusions and reshaping of perceptions.
Enjoy in the manner that brings you the most joy.
For those friends who have missed these random thoughts, thanks for letting it be known. I will re-commit to sharing thoughts with all of you.
It was, and still is, my fervent hope that this be a forum of sharing -- however, given the reality of our busy lives, I completely understand silence. If y'all just want to read and ponder that is fine. Maybe courage will strike in the future and you will feel driven to respond, to share, to create, to cause laughter.
If not, lives spent in quiet contemplation without needing to have one's voice raised is also that balance to the noise that pulls us away from inner discovery and keeps us from the path of thoughts leading us to profound and not so profound conclusions and reshaping of perceptions.
Enjoy in the manner that brings you the most joy.
Monday, September 14, 2009
Shed a little light on: Thinking
Do you ever think about thinking? This is referred to as "metacognition". The definition is "knowledge of your own thoughts and the factors that influence your thinking".
Take a few moments out of your life, wander out on a limb and notice what happens when you think. Do you ever stop? Have you ever tried to stopped thinking? Eastern philosophy says that it takes discipline to do so -- in the form of meditation -- when the thoughts enter, you immediately release them and let them go -- thereby staying in the moment. What does that mean??? Does thinking involve moving in and out of time segments rather than staying in the moment? What do you notice about your thinking patterns?
What sorts of things do you think about? Are thoughts like branches -- they sprout out from a central spot and then grow out to the limits and then stop or are they like roads -- taking us places and never ending -- traveling the distance. What types of thinking can one do? Critical thinking? Self-reflective thinking? Creative Thinking? Analytical thinking? Rudimentary thinking? What happens when you think too much? What happens if you can't seem to think? How long can you go without thinking? Does thinking have to be coherant? Does it have to arrive at a conclusion or can it simply wander aimlessly -- meandering through time and place?
Where does your mind take you?
Is your thinking a cadillac or a ferrari, a volkswagon or a hearse?
Is it blue in tone or red hot?
Does it stop and start or does it loop continuously?
How much can our thinking be controlled?
How do thinking and intution differ?
Do you censor your thinking?
Have you ever wondered...
what people who do routine jobs think about as they're doing them?
What are your thoughts?
Take a few moments out of your life, wander out on a limb and notice what happens when you think. Do you ever stop? Have you ever tried to stopped thinking? Eastern philosophy says that it takes discipline to do so -- in the form of meditation -- when the thoughts enter, you immediately release them and let them go -- thereby staying in the moment. What does that mean??? Does thinking involve moving in and out of time segments rather than staying in the moment? What do you notice about your thinking patterns?
What sorts of things do you think about? Are thoughts like branches -- they sprout out from a central spot and then grow out to the limits and then stop or are they like roads -- taking us places and never ending -- traveling the distance. What types of thinking can one do? Critical thinking? Self-reflective thinking? Creative Thinking? Analytical thinking? Rudimentary thinking? What happens when you think too much? What happens if you can't seem to think? How long can you go without thinking? Does thinking have to be coherant? Does it have to arrive at a conclusion or can it simply wander aimlessly -- meandering through time and place?
Where does your mind take you?
Is your thinking a cadillac or a ferrari, a volkswagon or a hearse?
Is it blue in tone or red hot?
Does it stop and start or does it loop continuously?
How much can our thinking be controlled?
How do thinking and intution differ?
Do you censor your thinking?
Have you ever wondered...
what people who do routine jobs think about as they're doing them?
- farmers out in the field
- late night janitors
- the sick and lonely patients in a hospital room
- old folks in a nursing home who have not had visitors for years
- a homeless man without friends
- child walking home from school alone
- monk in a monastery
- writer with writer's block
- estranged married couple silently eating in a restaurant never exchanging a word
What are your thoughts?
Friday, September 11, 2009
A day of remembrance
9/11 was a watershed moment in our history as a young nation. It was also one of those moments where most people can recall where they were and what they were doing when those planes hit. Like an earthquake that left reverberations and aftershocks that young nation watched the debris fly, the endless posters of those missing loved ones, the neverending clean up and a loss of freedom and sense of distrust that we still experience today.
Where were you on that day? What were you doing? What were your intial thoughts when you first saw/heard about what happened that day? Do you still remember what emotions you felt? What legacy has it left behind for you? Are you feeling less impacted by that moment as time marches on? What do you think about the fact that the trade center has not been rebuilt after all this time? What images does your mind bring up while remembering? Do you think we're safer today than we were? Do you think we have become complacent? What lasting effects has this moment had on you? How does it influence your life's work, decision-making or preparedness? Are there other moments in your lifetime that had a profound and deeply affecting effect?
What meaning does this day have for you?
Where were you on that day? What were you doing? What were your intial thoughts when you first saw/heard about what happened that day? Do you still remember what emotions you felt? What legacy has it left behind for you? Are you feeling less impacted by that moment as time marches on? What do you think about the fact that the trade center has not been rebuilt after all this time? What images does your mind bring up while remembering? Do you think we're safer today than we were? Do you think we have become complacent? What lasting effects has this moment had on you? How does it influence your life's work, decision-making or preparedness? Are there other moments in your lifetime that had a profound and deeply affecting effect?
What meaning does this day have for you?
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
9/09/09
Seems fitting that this blog should start on this unique day in this century. In fact it is this author's very first blog, ever. Certainly a milestone in itself.
The hope is that those who come across this blog or are expressly invited to partake in its intellectual or whimsical musings can take something away to ponder. In fact, hopefully, we will be able to ponder some imponderables.
The lighthouse motif symbolizes the shedding of light upon the obscure as well as illuminating clarity of thought.
So just a few thoughts to get started:
The next time we will find ourselves on this kind of unique date (single-digit date) on a calendar won't be until 1/01/01 (January 1, 2101) or on the next millennium, January 1, 3001.
So while you are pondering that, take a moment to speculate on where you will be the next time such as date rolls around -- if you are still or once again a human being on this earthly plane. What will the world be like? What countries will exist? What kinds of animals will there be? What will the status of our natural resources be? What languages will survive, which ones will reign supreme and which ones do not currently exist? What will sustain culture? What will the various world cultures look like? What sorts of challenges will face mankind? Will we have ventured out into the universe?
These are just a few thoughts to kick around, play with, shed light upon....
What do you wonder about? What do you suppose that the future will encompass?
Your thoughts, humor, whimsey and creative impulses are most welcome. Please share.
The hope is that those who come across this blog or are expressly invited to partake in its intellectual or whimsical musings can take something away to ponder. In fact, hopefully, we will be able to ponder some imponderables.
The lighthouse motif symbolizes the shedding of light upon the obscure as well as illuminating clarity of thought.
So just a few thoughts to get started:
The next time we will find ourselves on this kind of unique date (single-digit date) on a calendar won't be until 1/01/01 (January 1, 2101) or on the next millennium, January 1, 3001.
So while you are pondering that, take a moment to speculate on where you will be the next time such as date rolls around -- if you are still or once again a human being on this earthly plane. What will the world be like? What countries will exist? What kinds of animals will there be? What will the status of our natural resources be? What languages will survive, which ones will reign supreme and which ones do not currently exist? What will sustain culture? What will the various world cultures look like? What sorts of challenges will face mankind? Will we have ventured out into the universe?
These are just a few thoughts to kick around, play with, shed light upon....
What do you wonder about? What do you suppose that the future will encompass?
Your thoughts, humor, whimsey and creative impulses are most welcome. Please share.
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