Tag Archives: Meditation

Something Good

2 Replies

1. Begin Here by Maya Stein on Bentlily.

2. Brene’ Brown on The Power of Being Vulnerable on the Goodlife Project.

3. Allison Mae Photography. Beautiful.

4. This quote from Tara Brach: “No matter how much we meditate or pray, we still need others to help us dismantle the walls of our isolation and remind us of our belonging.”

5. Also from Tara Brach, Meditating Daily…”No Matter What” on the Elephant Journal.

6. Women Heal: an online alliance, another beautiful offering from Christa Gallopoulos.

7. Dealing with Exhaustion: Part 2 — Insist on Solitude on Life After Tampons.

8. This from the Daily Flame:

You may not see us or feel us, but I want you to know that, in this moment and always, you are completely supported. Your tribe is here, wrapping you in loving arms and lifting you up. The Universe is here, holding you, guiding you, and sending you signs so you don’t lose your way. I am here, whispering the truth, reflecting back your beauty and brilliance, always aligned and never betraying you. You are not alone. Capiche?

9. This Daily Truth from the Brave Girls Club:

Dear Unmatchable Girl,

Today it is time for you to be kind. To you. Just try, sweet friend, just try. You are the only one who knows the parts of you that need kindness the most, and for this reason, only you can provide this kind of deep kindness that you so need.

So today, please just try to be kind to the weak parts of yourself. Be kind to your addictions and your frailties, your mistakes and all of your human parts. Rather than treating these parts of yourself with hatred and disgust, please just take hands with these parts and say, “I am with you, we will make it through this.”

There are these kinds of parts to ALL of us. These parts are lonely, scared and act out in ways that make us sometimes feel ashamed. BUT, they ARE parts of us, and what if we just TRY to treat them with kindness, to put our arms around these parts of ourselves and let them know that no matter what, we will work hard to BE with these parts and teach them with love and truth. Just try, sweetest girl — just try. BE KIND to ALL of you. Let her know that it’s gonna be ok, that you are gonna love her no matter what as she works through all of this.

It will be worth it.
You are so deeply loved.
xoxo

10. You’re The One on the Daily Breadcrumb. Sunni Chapman is one of the most brilliant and wise women out there.

11. Settling In on Soule Mama. I think if I were a mom, this blog might make me feel bad, but I’m not, and it makes me feel so happy. I want this family to adopt me.

12. Unexpected Guests: Kim Fisher Designs on SF Girl by Bay. This cottage is where I live in my dreams. I want to go to there. Or here.

13. What I Know About Weight from the brilliant Rachel Cole.

14. Book Review: A Field Guide to Now on Scoutie Girl. This book is on my nightstand, and I am slowly reading it, savoring it. Christine Rosalie‘s work, her writing, blog, design, and art, are all gorgeous.

15. “What matters is the work”: 25 lessons for creatives in Patti Smith’s Just Kids.

16. Half the Sky Movement. I want to read this book, see the film, help the cause.

17. Margaret Atwood’s 10 Rules of Writing on Brain Pickings. Margaret Atwood is my favorite author, and I love this particular picture of her almost as much as I love the list of rules.

18. Transitioning on What We Create. Eydie is one of my kind and gentle readers, and this poem and post sums up exactly what I’ve been feeling and thinking this season. She ends it by saying:

Autumn is the season of harvest, of letting go, of decluttering, and clearing…It’s about holding onto only what is essential. Nature is signaling that it’s time to let go of the things, thoughts, patterns and behaviors that weigh us down and diminish our light. As we watch leaves fluttering to the ground, we are reminded that nature’s cycles are mirrored in our lives. Autumn is a time for letting go.

19. Tig Notaro is my new hero. She is funny and so strong, a real badass. Here’s an interview she did on Conan. If you want to buy a copy of the show she references, you can find it here. I downloaded it this morning, and it’s heartbreaking and beautiful and, believe it or not, funny. She was also on this weekend’s This American Life episode.

20. This quote from the Dalai Lama:

Education is the proper way to promote compassion and tolerance in society. Compassion and peace of mind bring a sense of confidence that reduce stress and anxiety, whereas anger and hatred come from frustration and undermine our sense of trust. Because of ignorance, many of our problems are our own creation. Education, however, is the instrument that increases our ability to employ our own intelligence.

Book Writing Saturday: Retreat

1 Reply

Instead of my regular Book Writing Saturday this week, I am on retreat. I am practicing with my fellow Open Heart Practitioners, and we are being led by our shared meditation instructor and friend, the brilliant Susan Piver. This is a virtual retreat, in part because we are scattered all across the globe, even as we are connected and practicing together.

So instead of literal book writing today, limited to four hours focused on the book, I’m doing a retreat. And yet, it has everything to do with writing this book, is structured similarly to the in person writing and meditation retreat I did with Susan in April, (and the one I’ll most likely be missing in October). There will be multiple sessions of meditation, dharma talks, and time alone to read, write, contemplate, and rest.

My word for this year was retreat. And as a practice, it’s become one of my favorite things, powerful and restorative. There’s a plan for a full week retreat at the end of Susan’s book, How Not to Be Afraid of Your Own Life: Opening Your Heart to Confidence, Intimacy, and Joy. It begins with a weekend intensive spent alone and away, along with a focused plan for the remaining five days back in your normal weekly routine. I’ve been wanting to do that one, but need to wait for a time when I feel like I can be away from my little family for an entire weekend. With the huge question mark about Dexter’s health and future, I don’t way to be away from him for that long, don’t want to leave Eric alone with that possibility.

Susan has asked those of us participating this weekend to have a book to read,  “one that supports you on your inner journey. Use your judgment and select something that will challenge you to delve within.” I am reading Brene’ Brown’s Daring Greatly. Last night, we answered a writing prompt Susan provided, and as I said earlier, there will be other blocks of time for reflecting, contemplating, and writing–becoming still and quiet, sinking down, delving deep. I suspect there will be some tears, as well as epiphanies. There usually are, when you make space for them, when you show up with an open heart.

One thing I found interesting as I prepared for retreat is that suddenly all the things I thought were so important, that had to be done before this could begin, seemed to dissolve, to no longer matter so much, even though Susan had warned us about the opposite happening, about obstacles arising the closer the retreat got. I felt like I was moving differently, slowed down, stripped down to what was important and essential, relaxing. The only “obstacle” ended up being my struggle with any type of math: I got the time zone conversion wrong, added two hours to my time instead of subtracting, so showed up late, didn’t start the retreat in “real time” with every one else. D’oh!

In my post a few days ago, I shared lyrics from an Alexi Murdoch song:

May the grace of god be with you always in your heart
May you know the truth inside you from the start
May you find the strength to know that you are a part of something beautiful.

Besides writing, contemplating, opening my heart, and meditating, opening up to this awareness is my intention for this retreat–for the grace of god to be with me always in my heart, to know the truth inside me, and to find the strength to know that I am a part of something beautiful.