I've been doing a lot of thinking about what comes next. There is planning, some identity crises, and parts of me are wondering how in the world this all works ( Read more... )

Subject line from Shake It Out by Florence + the Machine.

"When you hope for something in your life, if it doesn’t happen, you are disappointed or upset. If it does happen, then you become elated and excited. You are constantly riding a roller coaster up and down. Because he has never encountered any doubt about himself at all, therefore the ( Read more... )

Over the past three months, I've been thinking a lot about awkward turtle moments. I've become a much more introverted person. I remember when people used to think of me as the "life of the party." I laugh about that one, now ( Read more... )

This began as my 750 Words for the day. It has been edited lightly.It's a day of laundry, staying at home, and writing. I'm listening to mid-90s music and thinking about writing and what I want to say. I wish I had jotted down some of the ideas from yesterday. A first sentence came to me, "So I ran." Reminds me vaguely of the Dark Tower series, ( Read more... )

I was going to write about how I've been away from the blogosphere for nearly a week. Instead, let's talk about fear. Let's talk about anxiety. Let's talk about how, when that takes over (and when it wins), everything else around me shuts down. Everything else around me is seen as something new to ratchet up the fear, anxiety, or pain. It's "me ( Read more... )

When we face fear - or situations and thoughts that we are afraid of - and acknowledge it with kindness, the fear does not necessarily go away. It may even seem to become deeper and stronger, but nonetheless it changes its quality. As we stay with the fear, no longer covering it over but gently touching it and coming to know it, a new strength ( Read more... )

Every November, during NaNoWriMo, I become obsessed with some sort of music. NaNo'05 was Driving North by Chris Pureka. NaNo '06 was Deadly Sins by Sensuous Enemy. NaNo '07 was Magik: First Flight by DJ Tiesto. I don't recall NaNo '08 (oh yeah, that's the year I stopped because it was going to be a way to beat myself up for not writing/winning). ( Read more... )

Tonight, I started a five week course at the Baltimore Shambhala Center, Fearlessness in Everyday Life. Pretty neat title, right? It's described:
Learning to work with our anxiety, we are not blocked by fear. Through an exploration of the Buddhist teachings of mind and the nature of reality, we learn to see clearly. We dare to face life and death ( Read more... )