Change 15/Life Lessons

Since our move east, whenever the H and I have hit a rough patch (yes, there’ve been a few over the last two years–and we keep working through them, and all is well) I’ve directed some portion of my energy into little projects to remind me of who I am (i.e., not as a wife, mother, etc. but just: me.) I have an arty kind of journal thing that I draw or collage or write into once in a blue moon. But a few months back, when I was doing a bunch of interviewing and therefore carrying my little digital recorder around a lot, I started recording little snippets of my thoughts about my personal life lessons–not so much narratives of experiences, but the things those experiences have taught me about what’s important, how I want to be in the world, and so on. I am going to dig out those audio files, and while I won’t post them, I might share some of their content.

In the meantime, check this out. I’ve been interested in meditation, oh, my whole life. I remember finding a book of my mom’s that talked about candle meditation when I was really young–eight? nine? –and being totally fascinated. Flash forward thirty-some  years to the great meditation class I took in L.A. not long before I moved. I am an irregular meditator, unfortunately (meditation seems to fall in the too-easily-abandoned pit of self-care along with exercise, ironing and cleaning out my sock drawer) but when I do it with any regularity, I adore it. My dear friend sent me a link to some recorded meditations via the MARC mindfulness institute at UCLA, and I’m just so blown away that such a thing exists, that I had to share it. If you’ve never studied meditation, it’s worth experiencing. It’s almost like self-hypnosis (having experienced hypnosis, I say that with some certainty) and extremely calming, like a great nap or a good night of sleep. It focuses and calms you, and you can’t really do it wrong. Like so much else, it seems, meditation relies on repeated attempts.