explodingcat (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
realexplodingcat) wrote2004-10-08 07:12 pm
realexplodingcat) wrote2004-10-08 07:12 pm
(no subject)
Seems like forever since I last posted here. This class I'm taking is keeping me busy. Not so busy that I don't have time to do anything, but busy enough that when I have down time I don't really want to do activities that yield some kind of output, like writing or composing music. I've been doing more restorative activities like reading, taking walks, meditation, and exercise.
I am going less crazy over the class, but that experience is pushing me to find an inner peace to hold on to when all else is going nuts. I have always been intrigued by Buddhism and I'm considering seeking some formal experience with it. I think part of me misses a little bit of the ritual of being Catholic (which is the way I was raised) and the spiritual glue that binds one's disparate activities together. But the Catholic establishment no longer appeals to me. So, I'll check out the Buddha. Maybe I can find out why this guy who eschews materialism and lives without earthly desires is always portrayed as being fat.
Sort of related to the inner-peace thing: the other day I went to bed early, and woke up an hour earlier than usual. I usually just roll out of bed at 9am and right into the office. But I decided to try getting up early, to start the day with some personal time. It was a very nice way to set the tone for the day. I'd love to continue doing that, if I can manage to get to bed consistently earlier.
Yesterday, I thought it might be a good idea to take back the power in my relationship with my boss. I fixed a bug in our software in a way that only I could do. That's power! I control the bug fixing! So, I thought, next time my boss prompts me for a fix, I'll say, "I don't think you want it bad enough! I'm not going to check-in this bug fix unless you beg for it!"
And I blasted a squirrel off our bird feeder with the hose. Yes, indeed. I still can't bring myself to shoot them out of the trees, but I think I'm within my rights to defend my bird feeder.
I am going less crazy over the class, but that experience is pushing me to find an inner peace to hold on to when all else is going nuts. I have always been intrigued by Buddhism and I'm considering seeking some formal experience with it. I think part of me misses a little bit of the ritual of being Catholic (which is the way I was raised) and the spiritual glue that binds one's disparate activities together. But the Catholic establishment no longer appeals to me. So, I'll check out the Buddha. Maybe I can find out why this guy who eschews materialism and lives without earthly desires is always portrayed as being fat.
Sort of related to the inner-peace thing: the other day I went to bed early, and woke up an hour earlier than usual. I usually just roll out of bed at 9am and right into the office. But I decided to try getting up early, to start the day with some personal time. It was a very nice way to set the tone for the day. I'd love to continue doing that, if I can manage to get to bed consistently earlier.
Yesterday, I thought it might be a good idea to take back the power in my relationship with my boss. I fixed a bug in our software in a way that only I could do. That's power! I control the bug fixing! So, I thought, next time my boss prompts me for a fix, I'll say, "I don't think you want it bad enough! I'm not going to check-in this bug fix unless you beg for it!"
And I blasted a squirrel off our bird feeder with the hose. Yes, indeed. I still can't bring myself to shoot them out of the trees, but I think I'm within my rights to defend my bird feeder.
no subject
I don't know that Buddhism is too passive. To the unenlightened aggressive folks that comprise much of the world, I bet they are mistaking "subtle" for passive. And any religion taken to its extreme leaves you unable to participate in normal life, hence the reason we have monasteries. But not all of us are expected to follow the path in that way.
I remember all the excitement over The Celestine Prophecy, but I never really found out what it was about. Given all the passion over it, I suspected it was some crazy fundamentalist christian book. I suspected wrong. I just looked it up on Amazon. That does look rather interesting.
Of what you said, this is important: "I started reading it and began to remember the things I really like about Eastern philosophy and how I seem to keep losing sight of that in the hustle and bustle of day to day living." That is exactly why I'm seriously thinking about spending some time formally studying Buddhism. I find that I can collect bits of knowledge here and there all I want, but it rarely seems to change my life unless I leave my house and formally spend some time learning the subject with a teacher. And something that I think will be very important is making sure I have some time each day (hopefully the morning) to meditate, worship, whatever... I'm realizing now that having something like that built into my daily schedule will serve to remind me of all those great eastern ideas. If I do a little thinking, a little ritual, a little something each morning with mindful intent, then I will have started off the day on the right foot and I can carry that with me through the hustle and bustle of the day.