Today was a slow, steady kind of day. It was rainy and overcast much of the day, making it feel very chilly and wintry and was very sleep-inducing. More than once I nodded off in the process of working on my taxes (of course, I might have done this on a sunny day, such is the excitement of doing taxes.) In spite of the meteorological blandness, I am grateful today for how the morning started–once again I spent nearly an hour writing this morning as my campaign for clarity continues. In spite of the weather, I was able to dodge the rain long enough to get in my full walk at the Park today. So I managed to accomplish two things and this blog will be the third. In between writing and walking, I did manage to get some more work on my taxes. I will need to redouble my efforts as I’d like to have the whole ordeal over with by the weekend. It’s an ambitious goal, given all that I still have to sort out and enter, but it’s doable. We shall see.
I started writing this blog in the early evening (around 5 p.m.) Even as the sky darkened toward night time, birds were singing outside my window. It was interesting how noisy they became suddenly, after having been quiet for most of the day. I speculated that the rain must have stopped or diminished enough to get them out and about and active. I enjoyed the sounds of the birds, particularly as they included songs I’d never heard before. I kept pulling up my window blinds trying to spy out who was making the sweet whistles, but to no avail. I so love the sounds of nature around me, even when it’s the turkeys squawking to one another way too early in the morning. I am grateful for the beauty and variety of the flora and fauna where I live. Of course, from the time I was a child I’ve loved engaging with great outdoors and the critters who live and walk amongst it. For me, one of the challenges of living in the Bay area has been living in a mostly urban environment. Before I moved to California I lived on a lot more land than I have since I’ve been here. That’s why I am so appreciative at the pockets of nature I found around the condo where I live now, and in Chavez Park, where I walk several times per week.
And now it is night time–after 10 p.m. here on the West Coast. I am taking an evening class on Tuesdays through the month of February and quite likely another throughout the month of March. Both are on basic Buddhist teachings being offered at the East Bay Meditation Center in Oakland where I have been involved in sitting groups, daylong retreats and classes since I first started going there last July. It means that my blog will be late on those days (and perhaps on Thursdays as well when I go to the sitting group). I am pleased, though, that writing is taking a larger role in my life, almost in spite of me. I had been toying with the idea of writing “morning pages,” as prescribed in the book, “The Artist’s Way,” by Julia Cameron. Although I haven’t decided to formally enter into that process, I notice that I’ve been writing quite a few mornings in a row. What is clear is that I have a lot to say, even if it’s just to myself in the morning and to the faithful readers of this blog in the evening. Having spent the better part of my life wanting to be a writer, it’s interesting that when I wasn’t paying attention I actually became one. Now to move onto the part where I actually finish and publish some of my writing projects…that would be good.
I am tired, but grateful for many things in the day just past. I am learning a lot on my journey toward clarity, much of it coming through the writing and exploration of thoughts, questions, and ideas. I look forward to the continuing in this unfolding process in the days, weeks, months ahead. May we all live with joy, ease, and wellbeing as we walk the path. Let it be so!
