Mindfulness

For the foreseeable future while we have extra time on our hands, I will offer a Friday review of a book from the MEA Library. This first book comes from the section of the library defined as “How can I connect with my soul?” The author is Michael Meade and the full title is “Awakening the Soul: A Deep Response to a Troubled World.”

In an episode of “The Outer Limits” (1965) called “The Premonition,” a test pilot crashes his experimental X-15 plane. He quickly discovers he’s in a new reality where time has slowed to the pace of a snail. Everything is moving by inches per hour.

The idea came off the page Like a ship White and proud Slicing through lettered oceans Out and out to the heart of things.

Does a breakthrough require a breakdown? Money no longer changes hands. Hands no longer touch other hands. Yet, hearts continue to connect as the kindling of this crisis has us staring face to face with life’s big questions and mysteries.

You’re probably familiar with Outward Bound, the wilderness leadership program that helps young people and adults gain self-awareness and confidence while appreciating nature in a new way. The first course in the U.S. was run in 1961 for the Peace Corps, an organization that Outward Bound helped to shape.

When you hear the word “Mastery,” what comes to mind? For me, it’s the warriors at the Jedi Academy, learning how to recognize and harness the force within them. I also think of opera singers, concert violinists, and Ph.D. candidates.

Writing it down, whether it’s a quick observance of gratitude (I am grateful for… ) or the acknowledgement of pervasive fear (What if I die from COVID-19?), is one of the most important mental change agents in your toolkit. Especially in this anxious time.

Nature is a resilient and poignant teacher. It also doesn’t have an ego or a need to be noticed. So, I’m occasionally embarrassed when I’m tapping away on my laptop when I look up and stumble upon a technicolor Baja sunset. Here’s a poem I wrote as an ode to the beauty that surrounds me.

Once is chance. Twice is coincidence. Three times is a pattern. In that spirit, I’ve recently been asked three times about my morning routine. So, for better or worse, here it is: As I outlined in this earlier post, I wake up with monks and farmers.

Attain: “to achieve through effort” Attune: “to adjust as to be harmonious” Atone: “to make reparations for a sin, crime, or error” At one: “in a state of harmony or accord”