It began the last day of June and continued all through July and one day into August before I was abruptly thrown off because 750.com wanted a $5 per month retainer for me to continue, so I let it go. Younger daughter, who first invited me to try 750, sailed forward with the wind beneath her wings and $5 in hand.
The month of August promoted a special: If you wrote 750 words for 31 consecutive days during that month, you would be logged onto the "Wall of Awesomeness!" Then, you were supposed to declare your reward for yourself. Daughter chose to treat herself to a massage. Another feature of August's special was a "Wall of Shame." Most people said, if they failed to write daily, their penalty would be to send $5, $10, $25, or $100 to the organization. One person said he'd eat Brussel Sprouts for dinner 21 days straight. (One person's penalty is another's reward, I guess! 'Though I think I might tire of the yummy mini cabbages by day 9... unless I made them with caramelized onions, maple syrup, and bacon.)
Daughter dear is still going strong with the 750 words. A neighbor I suggested try it is also swimming upstream with the program and gaining writing muscle.
I'm missing out. I'm languishing in the back-water-eddies of my mind and slothitude. Sigh... Procrastination, I've perfected. Putting everything before writing is not a great way to get writing done. Not writing has become my new tilt button.
Perhaps this is the week it all changes. Perhaps with this blog, which I hope will come to 750 words, I'm on a new roll. (Hold the poppyseeds, they get stuck in my teeth.)
The question then becomes: What to write on a Sunday night?
Pride Day in Oakland? I wasn't there this year. But I remember fondly last year's event and still have a rainbow colored umbrella (sun shade!) to show for it. Oakland's is the most family friendly Pride Day March in the country. Don't believe me? google it.
Say, here's another topic: If you google a person, will s/he giggle? For real, can we tell if someone is googling us, I wonder?
Finally, Saturday, I finished taking notes on a book from which another woman at the "Church of Last Resort" and I are teaching in October. We've got three classes to cover Roger Walsh's Essential Spirituality: Seven Central Practices to Awaken Heart and Mind
Thirty-three pages of notes later, I've got the whole thing practically memorized. It helps that much of the content comes from sources with which I'm familiar... like Patanjali's Yoga Sutras, Saint Francis of Assisi, Confucius, Lao Tsu, Mohammad, Gandhi, Gautama Buddha, Maimonides, and Jesus. Like cultural anthropologist Michael Harner, who distilled the world's shamanic practices to create "core shamanism," so he could re-introduce this deeply healing practice to cultures that had been squashed by the subjugating culture, Roger Walsh has put forth these seven practices that are part of what he calls, "Perennial Philosophy" - ideas enduring across centuries and across cultures and taught by sages of all times to nudge us all along on what should be our most important goal in life: Self Realization.
The timing for me is perfect. The chaos covering the globe, and the endless news cycle covering the chaos has made me weary to the bone. The only thing holding me together, besides green juice daily and hard physical exercise is my yoga and meditation practice. He-who-shall-not-be-named is good for something after all! His whiplash style of leading the country has nudged me back to daily practice! Yay! Thank you for that! Orange you glad we have incentive to become the best equipped we can be to handle what comes next?
In case you're interested, these are the seven perennial practices:
~Transform our motivation: reduce craving, find our soul's desire
~Cultivate emotional wisdom: Heal our heart and learn to love
~Live ethically: Feel good by doing good
~Concentrate and calm our mind
~Awaken our spiritual vision: See clearly and recognize the sacred in all things and all beings
~Cultivate Spiritual intelligence: Develop wisdom, and understand Life
~Express spirit in action: Embrace generosity and the joy of service
Well, it looks as though I’m nearly at 750 words for tonight. (742)
So wrapping up, the ethical conclusion would be... "the name of the rabbit was Peter!"
757!
Pppfpfpfpfthththtrrrkkzzzzptptpt!
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