Archives for posts with tag: beginnings

In the Winter Fog

January 17, 2025 //
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This morning is cold and foggy. I slept in (for some values of “sleeping in”), and still arrived at my selected trailhead well before dawn. This trail is lit for much of the distance I walk, but beyond the vineyard, near the river, I still needed my headlamp. I’ve been, and returned, and it is still quite dark, though there is a hint of daybreak on the horizon. It’s not yet visible from the lit area of the trail, or the parking lot. The new artificial lights are much too bright.

A walk through winter fog.

The morning is foggier than I expected, and somewhat warmer (still quite cold, near freezing). The fog makes everything seem quieter and more mysterious in the darkness. I see the headlights of workers arriving to a nearby construction sight, filtered through the fog, before I hear the sounds of their pick-up trucks. I’m okay with that. The dance of the lights over irregular pavement is fascinating, and I don’t care for the noise at all. I walked and watched with wonder, alone with my thoughts.

The Author arrives later this morning. 10:30 or so, though I’m not certain whether that means to the house or at the airport. I didn’t ask for clarification – I guess I’ll know soon enough. lol I’m excited about this visit from a dear long-time friend. It happens too rarely. I think of other far away friends and wonder whether to plan a trip to see some of them in the summer? I wonder whether my Traveling Partner will be up to being without me for a week…or in shape to go with me?

I sit quietly with my thoughts. The sky is beginning to be a hue of deep gray-blue, visibly no longer “night”. A new day. There are things to do, and a visit with a friend to look forward to. I consider getting a coffee somewhere nearby, but I am just as content to sit here, watching the sky slowly lighten as dawn unfolds. G’damn, sometimes I am such a simple and easily satisfied creature. I chuckle quietly to myself. I’m okay with it.

A new day begins.

… It’s time to begin again.

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Categories Allegories, breathe, Free Will, gratitude, inspiration, joy, meditation, Metaphors, Mindfulness, Moments, Oregon Trails, pain, Perspective, Practices, solo hiking, The Art of Being, winter

On Beginning

January 1, 2025 //
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It’s the first morning of 2025. Unimpressive in most respects thus far, but that isn’t the point of a new beginning, nor is it the goal of this very human journey. There’s really no one to “impress”, and nothing much with which to impress them, not really. Thoughts to the contrary tend to be illusions we create in our own heads or adopt from others and subsequently use to torment ourselves with further illusions of disappointment and perceived failure. We could do better by ourselves than all that nonsense. It’s at least worth the attempt.

A new year, a new beginning. Choose your verbs, and practice.

We’re each human beings, having our own very human experience, each walking our chosen path alone, all of us in this together in spite of that. I look down the trail. It is a chilly misty morning that threatens rain. The world is damp and quiet. I sit with my thoughts a moment after lacing up my boots. Another mile ahead of me. Another moment of this precious mortal life, in which to consider, to choose, and to act. Where does this path lead?

In practical terms, last year I walked 788 trail miles (according to my tracker), and lost about 50 lbs. They may or may not be related. I’m not doing the walking to lose the weight in any specific direct way. It’s probably helpful to keep walking. Certainly it’s helpful to eat in a healthier way and manage my calories more closely. I’m very certain the semaglutide is a huge part of the weight loss, but even that is more about my health overall, and managing tricky details like my blood sugar, and oddly, my cognitive and emotional approach to food. It was always more complicated than “willpower”. It took a long time to be okay with that and to give myself a fucking break and be as kind and compassionate with the woman in the mirror as she seeks to be with the world. Humans being human.

I don’t really do “resolutions” at the New Year. I do take some quiet time to reflect quite seriously about who I am, who I most want to be, and what it might take to close the distance between the two. It’s a journey. The journey is the destination. There are so many steps in a mile, so many miles in a journey… and so many choices. I’ll definitely keep walking, both practically and metaphorically. In practical terms, I hope to reach one thousand trail miles this year. (Sounds like a lot but it averages to less than 3 miles a day over a year, which sounds pretty doable.)

I’ve got a list of books to read, and some quality of life goals that require changing some behavior. Nothing fancy or drastic, and incremental change over time can have really big results. We become what we practice. It’s enough.

I had a modest plan for today, and I don’t know if I am realistically up to it. I spent yesterday pretty ill, and I’m not yet back to 100%. I’ll take it easy in my walk, keep it short and unambitious, and be gentle with myself. Later I’ll take down the holiday decor – I’m pretty sure I’ve got enough in reserve to get that done. My other thought was to do the floors, all the floors, all the ways. Sweep, mop, dust baseboards, spot clean here and there were needed, and vacuum thoroughly – it’d be nice to begin the year bringing order out of chaos in this humble way, and I always enjoy how the house looks after some serious “detailing” of some kind… but… I’m fairly certain that project might be too much for me, today. Pushing it off to the weekend feels like “giving up”, but it also feels like self-care.

New year, new beginning – there are choices ahead, some simple, some complicated, and there’s a life to be lived. It’s definitely time to begin again. What will you be practicing? Where does your path lead? See you on the trail (metaphorically speaking).

One step at a time.
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Categories Allegories, breathe, Free Will, gratitude, Healthy Living, inspiration, meditation, Metaphors, Moments, Oregon Trails, Perspective, Practices, The Art of Being, Uncategorized

Re-Setting the Alarm

January 12, 2014 //
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This is no ordinary Sunday morning. Well, okay, it is. A dull gray rainy Sunday morning on which I woke without the alarm, did some leisurely yoga to regain my freedom of movement, soaked in a hot shower to ease my arthritis pain, took some timeless moments to meditate, and made a latte. It’s a rather nice Sunday morning, actually.  I enjoy the rain, and the soggy gray sky. The only thing that seems a bit out of the ordinary is that this Sunday precedes a workday. It’s been some weeks now since setting the alarm clock would be necessary, and I’m very aware that tomorrow is a return to a different sort of routine.

Changes in routine can be emotionally difficult for me, although I’m also quite adaptable.  This morning I find that my response to the internal question ‘Am I ready?’ turns out to be ‘Aren’t I always?’. The smile attached to the thought feels friendly and safe, comfortable, self-assured. I’m good at work, and the skills I bring to my professional life are generally something I can comfortably count on.

There have been moments when feelings of frustration that ‘this wasn’t enough time’ or that ‘I don’t know how to invest my time in me the way I think I need to’ and moments when I wasn’t sure taking this time has been ‘worth it’ or when I felt I had somehow ‘failed to do what I needed to’.  This morning it is more clear that those fears are unfounded. I’ve had limited time to work with, and it coincided with the biggest holidays in my year, too. What I’ve accomplished for myself, to meet my own needs, and work on my own agenda, has actually been pretty significant – and includes ‘finding my focus’  – the next big piece of my puzzle to slip into place for the upcoming who-knows-how-long. A month well-spent, from my perspective, considered on this last Sunday before I return to work.

  • I have had time and opportunities to practice mindfulness at my leisure, on tasks large and small, both solitary and shared, without the pressures of a rigid schedule distracting me.
  • I have had the freedom to meditate any time I needed to, or wanted to, without any need to ‘set a timer’.
  • I’ve been able to improve my everyday yoga practice, and really take time learning and practicing new asanas, new modifications, and new sequences.
  • I got to enjoy the holidays ‘at full throttle’ without having to interrupt my fun every 12 hours to go back to work and do unrelated, significantly less fun stuff for someone else.
  • I’ve had time to read, and enjoyed having the time and focus to read deeply, even taking time to cross-reference and follow-up on cited references in really engaging articles, and books. (I have started and finished 7 actual books in the past couple weeks.)
  • I’ve had some time to get to know this person I call ‘me’ – I’ve changed a lot over the past year, particularly, and although there is more to work on, to understand, to learn, to practice – it’s been wonderful having time to step back a bit and look me over, and see what is important in the now.
  • I got plenty of sleep – and learned that a significant portion of my disturbed sleep may be due to the background stress of work, and the commitment to someone else’s agenda, that isn’t being skillfully set aside at the end of work days.
  • I began to explore sculpture and 3 dimensional creativity, crafting miniatures for my partner’s fairy gardens, and crafting colorful figurines to express my feelings, or share my experience, when words fail me.

Expressions. A very fun bit of what I've been up to this year. :-D

Expressions. A very fun bit of what I’ve been up to this year. 😀

  • I worked out simpler statements to clarify my needs, my boundaries, and my understanding of some fundamentals, which has improved my ability to communicate – with myself, as well as with others.
  • I laughed a lot. I cried some. I got closer to my partners.
  • I learned more about the nature of intimacy, and how very earnestly I want to be good at it.
  • I explored things about who I am that have nothing at all to do with pain, or trauma.
  • I changed up my personal space and some of my every day practices to enhance parts of my experience I really love, but struggled to enjoy comfortably.
  • I rediscovered how much there is to talk about beyond employment.

Looked at that way, it’s clear the time wasn’t wasted, and that any perceived ‘failures’ are chosen perceptions, associated with personal baggage, nothing more. (Sorry you had to slog through all that, and thank you for taking the time to sit through it with me while I took a look at it.)

So, here it is, the last Sunday before I got back to work. I am okay with going back to work, for now, and it’s nice to feel confident that at any time I really need to, I can set all that aside and go home and take care of me.  Hell, from a perspective of contentment and sufficiency, I’m pretty sure I have ‘enough’ to get by on, anytime, and find real satisfaction and joy in my experience of living. That’s a new thing… I hope to nurture it, and grow it, perhaps even gain some understanding of what makes contentment thrive. Contentment feels very good.

Today I am content and secure. Today I am kind and compassionate. Today I love and play at leisure, nurturing my heart through mindful enjoyment of everyday pleasures. Today I will change the world. ❤

 

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Categories Anxiety, Art, Brain Injury, Free Will, Healthy Living, Logic & Reason, Love, Mindfulness, Perspective, Post Traumatic Stress, Relationships, Words