Gracious, the day got away from me…
I kept meaning to write this blog post but I have been swept away working on the first of 3 courses I am doing with Pema Chödrön. The first course, which I have spent hours on today, is on “Good Medicine” the practice of maitri — loving kindness and compassion; tonglen meditation — “The practice of Tonglen or Giving and Receiving is done to develop our compassion and our ability to be present for our own suffering and the suffering of others.” (Upaya); and the lojong teachings, the basis of tonglen. This is my spiritual work that I will be doing daily over the next year and ongoing, it is the basis of the writing practice that I teach in the Sunday Night Writing Group classes, and has led me to believe that my work in the next year here on the blog should be “A Year Of Compassionate Acts.” This would be very broad and could include things like self-care, taking care of an animal, a child, or the elderly, making oneself a good meal, all manner of showing compassion and kindness to both ourselves and others. I think this is what I will be doing.
The thing is that this is such big work I have been making copious notes as I watched video after video after video, and then I went around the house gathering armfuls of books to bring back here to my work table in preparation for writing my outline for next Sunday’s class. I welcomed new students into the private Facebook group for the classes, watered the front porch garden, cooked a big pan of salmon for dinner tonight and the days ahead, and somehow the whole day had slipped by and now it is 9:00 at night. Good grief, the blog post! I exclaimed, startling the pugs no end! And now here we are.
I got a lot of work done today. I talked to my darling daughter Rachel on the phone and Noni stopped by to show me her new puppy. It has been a day filled with so many things. I am going to have to leave you with this meager post dear ones.
When I was pulling books off of the shelves I was delighted to find my old copy of Pema’s book, Start Where You Are. Paging through the book with so much highlighting, so many underlinings, and notes in the margins I could barely see any plain text I came across a quote I love…
“If we are willing to stand fully in our own shoes and never give up on ourselves, then we will be able to put ourselves in the shoes of others and never give up on them.”
Pema Chödrön
Start Where You Are:
A Guide to Compassionate Living
This was my life today, standing in my own shoes, working on material for my students whom I love deeply, and remembering why I took the name Maitri legally after my divorce, to remind myself to center my writing, teaching, and my life in loving-kindness and compassion. It’s what matters to me most. It’s what my life is all about.
Now I will get ready to go to bed with my sweet pugs. “Bed” for us means the big over-sized recliner that I sleep in with my two darling elderly pugs. Here we were just waking up this morning, Pugsley in my nap, and Delilah right behind him. This, too, is compassion, mine for them and them for me. This, too, is my life…
The Experiment ~A 365 Day Search For Truth, Beauty &
Happiness: Day 1 ~ Introduction To The Project
“Do or do not. There is no try.”
Yoda
Dear Maitri,
How I respect your steadily working on making your life one that brings you joy. It os obvious that the phrase “life long learner” is as much a part of who you are as the breaths you take. I love your new focus. It warms my heart.
Gentle hugs,
Lauren
Thank you so much dear Lauren, it is surely true, and I can’t imagine being any other way. What else would we do with our lives if we weren’t continually learning, growing, and expanding our lives in any way we possibly can? As long as I’m able I’ll be doing just this…
And I’m hugging you back. Feels good to be hugged at the end of a long day… 🙂
Maitri
Agreed. It was a good day today. I wanted to tackle some chores today, so I jumped into the work and finished them! It’s been a while since I actually felt energized, so I took full advantage of my good feeling.
Tomorrow I’m looking forward to lunch with a good friend before herding everyone to the chiropractor’s office. The chiropractic is working to help both mom AND husband too. Who’da thunk? 🙂
Victoria,
Good for you honey for getting so much done! And that’s wonderful that the chiropractor is helping both your mother and your husband. I have had a lot of chiropractic care in my life and think it is an amazing healing modality.
Enjoy your lunch with your friend. You need to take care of YOU too while you are taking care of everyone else! So glad you’re going to be in the writing class. Can’t wait to see you there… 🙂
So grateful for how you share your feelings, observations, and the road you are on with us.
A life of compassion, how beautiful.
Much love to you.
Sweet Beverley, you are so welcome, and you are so kind to say that. It is my path, my way.
And I was so excited to see that you are taking classes and that the students provided you with pens and a water bottle and lunch. How lovely is that? I hope that’s a wonderful experience for you. We must keep learning and growing as we walk this earth, it’s what keeps us alive and going and excited about life. I am just delighted for you! And so glad you are in the writing class. Can’t wait to see you there Sunday night! 🙂
Maitri, I love the quote and I love your focus on compassionate acts. I think this is where your heart is centered and I am excited to follow you on the next leg of your journey. I hope you had a good evening cuddled up with your pugs. 💕
Thank you so much dear Maggie, and it means so much to me to have you as part of this journey that I am on, and in the class. I hope you arrive home safe and sound from your travels and enjoy being back in your home away from the Florida heat! I look forward to seeing you on Sunday night… 🙂