Pam Bustin
creator, editor, story tender
21 Monkeys – Day EIGHTEEN – Live your Magnificence!
Got the giggles when I thought I heard Deepak telling me to take time to “contemplate my magnificence!”
What he actually said was…
Instead of chasing perfection, is it not better to spend the time contemplating and living our magnificence?
Yes.
Yes it is.
May you find some time today to contemplate and live YOUR magnificence.
Go easy ~ p
21 Monkeys – Day SEVENTEEN – The Four Questions
Ahh the ole Throat Chakra…
You’d think I’d have a lot to say about this one, eh?
I do have many thoughts and feelings roiling around….but…instead of me blathering on today…How about we just contemplate a wonderful Buddhist practice centered on Conscious Communication…
Before you speak, ask yourself these four questions:
Is what I am about to say kind?
Is it true?
Is it necessary?
Does it improve upon the silence?
If the answer to all these questions is yes – then have at ‘er.
If the answer is no….take the PAUSE and decide if you really want to say it.
Some say that if the answer to any of these questions is No then you shouldn’t say it at all…I’m not entirely convinced of that…yet. The need to be KIND has silenced many who must be allowed to speak. I understand the IDEA of saying hard truths in a kind way…but… Well…. I shall think on this awhile. As to what is truly necessary…. That interests me as well.
As always, they leave me with much much to think on.
May we speak our truth – with love.
Go easy ~ p
21 Monkeys – Day SIXTEEN – The Power of the Pause
Many messages flooding in today…
We took a look at how meditating on a regular basis can help us develop our “witnessing awareness” which can, in turn, allow us observe a situation in which we are being triggered or upset in a calm, “objective” manner. This enables us to PAUSE in the midst of this event and consciously CHOOSE how we would like to respond. As opposed to feeling stuck in reactive mode and old patterns of behaviour.
I’m a big fan of seeking the PAUSE.
I look forward to actually, consciously, managing to Do It!
The session moved on to talk about the feelings and emotions that we … Avoid or resist. And also touched on how and where stress accumulates in our body.
I felt a bit… Unfocused today…as if I needed more time with each of these things.
I personally need a bit more time with…the whole shebang. There is just…so much… In these sessions. It’s impossible, of course, to absorb it all.
I’m sort of looking forward to … The end. And to returning to my own silent sitting each morning.
And I’m contemplating working back through these messages and journal questions on my own but… Having each focus for an entire week instead of just one day.
A 21 week adventure.
Perhaps.
It’s a sun shiny day on the bay.
May we be happy.
May we be safe from inner and outer harm.
May we be content with ourselves just as we are.
May our hearts be open.
Go easy ~ p
21 Monkeys – Day FIFTEEN – Welcome to the Funhouse
The good you find in others is in you too
The faults you find in others are your faults as well
After all, to recognize something you must know it.
The beauty you see around you is your beauty.
See the best in others and you will be your best.
Give to others and you give to yourself.
Appreciate beauty and you will be beautiful.
Admire creativity and you will be creative.
Love and you will be loved.
Seek to understand and you will be understood.
Listen – and your voice will be heard.
How tasty is THAT?
~p
21 Monkeys – Day FOURTEEN – Hello in there, Hello…
Do you ever go through an entire day and realize that you haven’t actually looked anyone in the eye?
I do. I have this thing from the way-back where I rarely look at people directly in the eye. I think I am, but actually my eyes are just sort of… pointed in their general direction. Apparently I used to look at people’s foreheads a lot.
I hope I’ve improved somewhat, but I think that I still avoid people’s eyes.
It’s a defensive maneuver. If I look you in the eye and really SEE you, well then…you will see me too. Scary stuff.
I find myself, lately, setting an intention to really look people in the eye…and then… at the end of the day… I review things and find that…yet again I went through my day in the same ole way.
But hey… try try again, right?
Today’s Mindful Moment suggestion is to dedicate the day to “living the true spirit of namasté.” I’m off to a pow wow today and I am totally going to give it a whirl.
Care to join me?
Mindful Moment
Today send everyone you encounter a silent blessing. You may want to silently repeat the greeting of namasté: the spirit in me honors the spirit in you. Consider dedicating today to living the true spirit of namasté—giving yourself permission to internally bow to each and every person that crosses your path as you witness, honor and acknowledge the divine spirit that they are.
This John Prine song always breaks my heart…wide open…which is a good good thing.
May you greet the people that you meet…
go easy ~p
21 Monkeys – Day THIRTEEN – bow me you
Ahhh to be “present”… That fantastic feeling of being solidly in the body, looking out of the eyes and receiving the sounds and energy and beauty all round us.
To see the being behind the eyes as we chat with our Love, or a friend, or a stranger, or a four legged (or a crawler/flier/slither/swimmer).
May you find your way to presence today.
Here’s some pretty pics and words to dream on…
Go easy ~p
Shake and Bake 45: The Shine Suck Such Shine Edition
As reported earlier today… this week has been a bibbety-boppity-BLAST…she laughs sardonically…
Though my mood and energy have swung wildly off in all directions … I hold my blessings close. Just when the mood is grey and the sadness hangs heavy… you see one of these…
And… let us not forget that this here week began with a lil of this…
So… It ain’t so bad, eh?
What worked:
The meditation “challenge” and the posts have been good fun.
And the thing that pulled me out of the seductive slump today… a walk with the Sweet Raggedy Man… ta DA! Yes. Just a walk. Makes all the difference to this lil snip-snap. Things I KNOW… Things I forget…and so we leap to…
What…um… perhaps did NOT work:
The letting go entirely of the DOINGS.
I gotta ask… um… did NO ONE out there feel like yelling,
“BUT BUT BUT…Pam…. WAIT! These are the things that you KNOW are your comforts and your way of aligning with the universe and… you know darned well that if you don’t do these things – consistently – that you are bound to slip down the bunnyhole of despair headed straight for the slough of despond!!!!!”
No one?
Perhaps you, like me, thought …
“A break is always good. She is far far too hard on herself. She should just kick back and let it all go for a bit. After all, she IS doing that crazy meditation challenge and posting something every single day and working on (as in thinking about / chasing / seeking) her 3day idea and… isn’t that ENOUGH?”
Well, Toots… we was WRONG. It isn’t enough. I needs my doings and they are hereby re-instated for the coming week! Especially the Yoga and the Writing Hours and the WALKS. I’ve been doing the Scrib, of course, but I have not SAT for the requisite hours to work on … a project… and I find that I must. I simply must. And the yoga is much much needed for the bod and ease into the day. As for the walking…see above!
When oh when will I learn this about my self??
Harumph.
Course… maybe you are entirely smarter than me and are now thinking…
Well DUH! You didn’t say you were STOPPING the doings. You just said you weren’t going to post your numbers. I never thought you would DROP them entirely. Sheesh!
I can be a silly bugger.
Onward!
The Hard:
- – a full day and a half lost to tiredness… accompanied by sadness extreme. Brought on by a bought of illness that wore me down.
- – realizing how fast things slip into the grey zone when I don’t do the doings.
- – realizing that just because I’m the boss of my own pants does not mean I know best… though I keep reaching for that elusive self-knowledge thing.
- – weak shields…out of my groove… meaning I was easily pulled into negativity and sadness by other people… or into WHATEVER they were feeling instead of letting their stuff be their stuff and my stuff be mine.
The Good:
- + the Wild Woman Fish-a-thon – such a glorious day to be out on the water with pals. Learned many new skills and … filling the freezer with tasty healthy food is pretty darned cool too.
- + learning stuff. Learning so much stuff.
- + knowing that even when I feel like I’ve lost the thread, am out of the groove or off my game…it’s really still OK… that it is all a part of the living.
- Finally FINALLY finding and watching My Dinner With Generation X by the brilliant Brian Stockton. Food for my Xer soul! You should find it and watch it and go buy the boxed set of all all Brian’s films!!! I’m a huge fan. Can you tell?
The Thing that needs Baking In MOST:
Oh gawd…i sit here with my hands on the keyboard and a blank head and people are coming over!!! I must finish. I must finish….. what needs baking in?
Find the Flow…
When you get this anxious feeling just breathe… just slow down…slip down inside and… all will be well.
There is time for it all to happen.
Next Week’s Playful CHALLENGE Intention…
Ha ha… just found last weeks Challenge… which was…
Let go of the whip…. find the rhythm of these days… They are different than the winter days… and they are all de-lovely
Still true… these days ARE de-lovely. And the rhythms are different. And I don’t want to pick up the whip and continue to struggle struggle all the time.
Ease. What on earth are the easeful ways for me to … do the doings… and be open to shifts and changes in rhythm and… not get all hung up?
Dunno man.
I would like to challenge myself to… write the word EASE big and bold and glue it to the cover of the SCRIB – which is the one thing I will for SURE touch every day. This will help me remember the intention for this next week … Find the EASE-FULL way.
Take your own damned advice and… go EASE-Y!
That’s the ticket!
~~~
Thanks for popping in.
May your week be full of joy and shine shine shine…
go ease-y
~p
PS… for the Xers….
In homage to Havi’s Friday Chickens over on the The Fluent Self — This is the place I review my week – in an attempt to track some things – like progress on my novel and… living intentionally. I shake out my week and lay it out. Let the hard burn off and the good sink in. Call it an experiment in paying attention.
Comments are cherished here. Discussion is adored. If you’d rather talk in private – drop me a line.
21 Monkeys – Day TWELVE: Row with the Flow
As we journey through this meditation challenge, I am constantly amazed by…Synchronicity.
This week has flown by me in a blur of wild energy leaps and leaks…
I’m charged up…
I’m entirely drained…
I’m happy as a clam… I’m too sad to sit up straight…
I’m a bippitty-bobbity-boom of buzz and blah.
And today’s session was all about how our energy affects the people and the world around us.
Deepak and Oprah are entirely spying on my life! Heh heh.
I am left pondering two things…
First…How do I tune in, and stay tuned in, to the rhythm of the universe and stay true to my own rhythms as well? How do I make sweet deep heartful music with the cosmos?
I have a few clues for this one…though I don’t always manage to DO what I KNOW.
I keep working on it, because I know that finding that groove will help me with the second quest… Which is… to stay solid in my own positive open energy when I find myself sucked towards a vortex of soul draining negativity.
It happens. Oh Lordy does it happen.
May we feel the flow and let the rest go…
Go easy ~ p
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Pam Bustin 