Month: December 2019

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Off to a great start

I just had to share this because it describes how I’m feeling…😊

I’m so glad I did not wait until January 1 to begin the practices that tell me — through concrete action, not empty words or intellectual theories — that I am worthy of self-love and self-nurturing and self-compassion and kindness.

The rebounder (mini-trampoline) that I’ve been absolutely craving since last summer arrived last Friday. So I’ve been “bouncing” for four days now.

On Monday, I commenced my “early rising” practice; it’s only been two mornings so far, but I can feel the difference. And, yes, I’m tired because I’m not yet going to bed any earlier, but I have faith that will come. And in the meantime I’m enjoying seeing the sun rise and having time to practice self-care (meditation, yoga postures, walking, etc) before the day gets away from me.

So tomorrow morning I start the new year off on the right foot, while already gaining momentum.

Happy New Year blessings to you as well! 💕🙏✨

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Swirling

There are so many thoughts and ideas and realizations swirling around in my head tonight…but it’s getting late and I can’t seem to sort through and pick one to focus on.

Besides, 5:30 is going to come awful early!

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Extreme measures

It seems that nothing I do or tell myself will get me to go to bed before 11:00 pm. So starting tomorrow I’m instituting a new practice of getting up early (as in 5:30 am) regardless of what time I go to bed!

The idea is that eventually I’ll be so pooped from getting up early day after day that I’ll naturally start going to bed earlier. Crossing my fingers that this works, because getting an earlier start to my day is important — on a lot of levels and for a lot of reasons.

Supportive prayers are very welcome.

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Star Wars memories

Where it all began…

Just saw Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker this afternoon. Not being a fanatical sort of fan, I enjoyed it. Yes, there were plot points that didn’t quite add up, but I felt they got the important stuff right.

Since this is (supposedly) the “last” movie in the series, I can’t help looking back to the beginning — an amazing forty-two years ago!

As a “serious” musician just about to turn twenty-one years of age in 1977, I was “above” whatever “the masses” found appealing. Of course I heard people talking about Star Wars; my musician friends were especially enthusiastic about the “bar scene” — whatever that was — but I refused to go see it.

Then half a year later I was in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan (Canada), visiting my boyfriend, who was there on tour. The band had a night off and everyone wanted to see a movie. Well, Saskatoon didn’t have a lot of variety to offer, so Star Wars ended up being the movie we had to see.

Needless to say, I absolutely loved it, as I sat on the edge of my seat and cheered for the good guys!

Back home, orchestras were soon programming the Star Wars Suite for Orchestra — extremely difficult but immensely satisfying to play. Looking back, the whole thing truly was a phenomenon!

I was as eager as the next person to see each new installment of the franchise as it was released. And, although I found the prequels to be pretty hit-or-miss, I’ve mostly enjoyed the sequels. But sitting in the theater today, it occurred to me that the element that perhaps deserves the most credit for tying it all together over forty-two years of movie-making is the music.

The original opening sequence soundtrack is just as thrilling as ever. The truth is, without John Williams’s score there would be no Star Wars.

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Still to do

Well, it’s turning out to be “one-of-those-years”…when the Christmas to-do list is still incomplete three full days after Christmas. And when you realize you still haven’t sent any sort of card or greeting to some of your nearest and dearest friends.

Sigh.

You know they’ll understand, but still…

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In the spirit

Last night, today, and tomorrow are when we finally get to take off our “organizational” hats and simply enjoy the season!

The Christmas Eve program ended around 6:00 pm and by 7:30 we were immersed in friends, fondue, and panettone. Today — Christmas — featured friends, pancakes, and eggs. And tomorrow we get to meet my Dad, sister, and a friend in Auburn for yet another wonderful meal! Ahhh…

But now it’s time for a Christmas movie: The Bishop’s Wife.

Hope you’re enjoying a joyous and relaxed Christmas evening as well!

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Done.

As in “finished” and as in “completely cooked”. We’re DONE with all the events we held any responsibility for; now it’s after midnight so all that’s left to say is:

HAPPY CHRISTMAS, EVERYONE!

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Was still…went deep…

…and now I’m home, practicing “no judgement”. 🙂

Here’s the phrase that popped into my mind as I was driving home from the Temple of Light after the first two hours of meditation this morning: “Whatever is, simply is; I cannot change it for the mere wishing.”

That’s part of the affirmation for “Truthfulness” in Swami Kriyananda’s book Affirmations for Self-Healing (I looked it up when I got home).

Lately it feels like “truthfulness” is a large part of the reason for this blog, which seems to exist largely as a way for me to practice (again from Affirmations for Self-Healing) “…seeing things as they really are, but then looking more deeply for ways to improve those realities.”

The truth about my meditation today is that it was deep and inspiring, but I can’t maintain the stillness for very long because of how much tension and dysfunction are present in my body. I was making progress on remedying this, but then I got super-busy with Christmas preparations and gave myself permission to not beat myself up about putting it on the back-burner for a time. Which was fine and necessary, but today’s meditation has made me super-eager to get back to it as soon as possible!

So…yes, it was a good meditation. And I’ll go back for the afternoon portion which doesn’t require as much sitting still.

The affirmation for “Truthfulness” ends with: “Fearlessly, therefore, I accept the truth, knowing that, at the heart of everything, God’s truth is always good.”

Or, as we would put it during our time in LA: “It’s all good!”

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Spiritual Christmas

Tomorrow is our long (8 hour) Christmas meditation. It’s a beautiful tradition, established by Paramhansa Yogananda to help devotees offset the demands of “social” Christmas with a full day dedicated to deep meditation.

The past few years I’ve felt more anxious than usual going into it. This is partly due to my ongoing challenge with consistency in my meditations, but it’s also because this is such a busy time of year for the music ministry. Come the morning of the long meditation I often feel like I’m suddenly skidding to a total stop after a month of going sixty miles an hour!

I intend to do my best to make it the full eight hours, but I’m also making my peace ahead of time with the possibility that I might fall short.

I think the following will be my motto for the day:
Be still. Go deep. No judgement.