Back From The Edge

I am sitting here listening to Jami Sieber’s haunting cello and vocals. I listened to her while I was meditating today as well. I find I am in an altered place and it has helped ebb my grumpy mood. I am feeling a peace that has eluded me over the last 12 hours.

I am reminded of how much I have come to appreciate music in my life. I did not grow up listening to much music. I have attention issues so song lyrics normally distract me. However, ambient music helps my mind and heart to soar. Sometimes it feels as if the right music is the soundtrack to my life.

Also from Magnatune, I love Ehren Starks and Rob Costlow (piano) and Suzanne Teng (flute) immerse me in luscious textures of familiar magic.

I encourage you to explore Magnatune and find out if there is transformative music for you as well. The music  spans from pop and rock to ambient and world music. I can listen to any album I wish. I have subscribed since it allows me to download any album from the site in a number of different formats.

PANDORA http://bit.ly/b3IiXI

Yesterday I posted a video in which Carl Honore talked about the slow movement. It struck me because I am an adrenaline junky. I’m not into extreme sports, I don’t ride a motorcycle, I don’t parachute, I don’t do any of that stuff. What I do is distract myself and am constantly looking for a new stimulus. I move from activity to activity without pause. I go from working on the computer, to watching TV, to playing on the computer. My day is full of large and small adrenaline hits. One of the most difficult things for me to do is to be still and quiet. I am nurturing a habit of daily meditation. I have started recording my success rate. As of today it was 50%. I find it very difficult to sit still for 10 minutes and when I do meditate I invariably have monkey mind. This is where my thoughts jump from one to the other just like monkey swinging and jumping from tree to tree.

Professor Guttorm Fløistad summarized the slow movements philosophy this way:

The only thing for certain is that everything changes. The rate of change increases. If you want to hang on you better speed up. That is the message of today. It could however be useful to remind everyone that our basic needs never change. The need to be seen and appreciated! It is the need to belong. The need for nearness and care, and for a little love! This is given only through slowness in human relations. In order to master changes, we have to recover slowness, reflection and togetherness. There we will find real renewal.

I ordered a book by Carl Honore entitled In Praise of Slowness: How A Worldwide Movement Is Challenging the Cult of Speed. It will be my next read. I’ll let you know what I think. In the mean time, take a look at the website http://www.slowmovement.com/ it provides insights and resources for those interested in the slow movement.

It will be Summer — eventually.
Ladies — with parasols –
Sauntering Gentlemen — with Canes –
And little Girls — with Dolls –

Will tint the pallid landscape –
As ’twere a bright Bouquet –
Thro’ drifted deep, in Parian –
The Village lies — today –

The Lilacs — bending many a year –
Will sway with purple load –
The Bees — will not despise the tune –
Their Forefathers — have hummed –

The Wild Rose — redden in the Bog –
The Aster — on the Hill
Her everlasting fashion — set –
And Covenant Gentians — frill –

Till Summer folds her miracle –
As Women — do — their Gown –
Of Priests — adjust the Symbols –
When Sacrament — is done –

Emily Dickinson

(Editor’s Note:  This poem is shown here as it was written — Emily Dickinson loved her hyphens.)

Get out there and seize the day!  Wear that sundress you think you look fat in — screw what everybody thinks, you love it; knead a patch of cool grass with your toes while you eat your supper, find a shady tree in a quiet place and meditate, show your kids how you used to decorate yourself with lightning bug butts — whatever it is, do it.  Don’t neglect the scrapbook in your head!

There many actions and behaviors I have put into place in the last year that have allowed my mind to calm down and has allowed me to be at rest and feel contented.

1. I have started using David Allen’s method of Getting Things Done (GTD). It is a bottom up system that is based on ubiquitous capture of thoughts, ideas, action items (“oh, yeah, I’ve got to…”).

2. Daily meditation. I spend 10 minutes every morning focused on my breathing. It is not a religious exercise, it is an exercise of living in the moment (yes, I do have monkey mind quite a bit).

3. The practice of doing what I am doing. Most of the time while I am doing something I am somewhere else in my thoughts. When I drink my tea, I remember to be present to drinking tea. When I am speaking with someone, I try to focus on the words I am hearing rather than what I want to say next. I find that the practice of living these simple moments translates into my living moment to moment with more ease.

I will write about GTD in another post. But below is a primer on GTD via our friends at YouTube.

What is it that helps you to feel at peace and to be present?