Bump Day

Wednesday is my day to re-group and re-define my week. First I make a plan for getting over the bump of the mid-week, then I re-envision my emotional tone and perspective.

(I actually had my Hump yesterday, which should not have surprised me but did - let's try to keep it from extending!)

Agenda today:

1. Love meditation

2. My bump plan

3. Read "The Sweet Spot"

4. Writing themes and passion plan

5. New narrative for passion

1. Love Meditation:

Every month after the full moon, in the quiet-energy yin time of the waning moon, I practice a love meditation that progresses from receptivity, to gratitude, to generosity:

Day 1: Practice a love meditation, and open to receive blessings - send a prayer to the universe asking to be showered with love, kindness, health, and happiness.

1. 1 minute - Relax your body, and focus on the tender emotion of generous love. Allow a smile to settle on your face and in your heart.
2. 1 minute - Visualize love as soft, tingly, warm, pink light, and see it move from your heart to every part of your body so that every cell is glowing and vibrating.
3. 1 minute - Now see the pink light of love radiating to fill the whole room, then the whole city, and the whole planet earth.
4. 1 minute - See that all people, plants, and animals feel warm and happy.
5. 1 minute - Send an extra dose of love light to those people you want to have a better connection to.

2. My bump plan:

Ideas:

• Eat a high-protein breakfast for a sharper focus: Poached eggs and toast
• Mid-week priority catch up: This week - Plan a party!
• Clear some clutter to free mental space: Craft cabinet.
• Easy evening meal or dinner out: Leftovers.

3. Read "The Sweet Spot":

I'm continuing this book by Christine Carter (2015), about "How to Find Your Groove". The thesis is that when we hit from our sweet spot we have optimum power and the greatest ease. I've just begun Part 5: Tolerate Some Discomfort, about how to be comfortable with pursuing mastery and the vulnerability that requires, and how to bounce back after a setback. 

Chapter 8 is Making Hard Things Easy, about developing unique areas of mastery, which is the sweet spot between strength and ease - because it requires a challenge. Mastery comes from grit (which is part persistence, part practice, and part passion), along with rest, and good coaching.

Masters usually focus on practicing a micro-skill, and repeating; also they practice consistently over a long period, the same amount each day. And that's where passion helps: We need more than discipline to stick to the practice for the years it takes to develop mastery. We need enough interest to reward us intrinsically. "Passion is a pure and long-lasting fuel." 

What is it I am currently trying to master, and what is the practice I need to do? Well, writing of course!

4. Writing themes and passion flow plan:
The next few days are the best block of time I have for healthy obsession for my writing project. Today I will set themes and topics for writing, research, and also some garden, advocacy, and community tasks to support that Nature-Culture flow through the next week.

My Nature-Culture theme this month is mid-spring hope and awareness.

• W: N-C blog - Caterpillar awareness; Know your caterpillar neighbors
• TH: Edits and post + Follow the black-tailed bumblebee
• F: Create sanctuary for caterpillars; Plant generously, both upper and understory plants
• S: Edits and post + Research neonicotinoids, and make a plan of attack.
• Sun: Awareness - Meet the Western Tiger Swallowtail,
• + share my Substack with the Meeting
• M: First Fruits and an Honorable Harvest
• T: Edits and post

5. New narrative for passion:

One of my weekly Creative Perspective tasks is to define a new narrative, today for the habit of Passion. 

First, I want to reaffirm my intention to write a book called "Nature-Culture for Everybody", a how-to book for living our lives as part of nature that includes awareness practices for every season; practical activities for healing nature; journal queries to help shift priorities; and ideas for how to “pay forward” the gifts we receive from nature. My goal is to create a real-life-living concept to help us to shift the paradigm our culture is so mired in, because this is one way to use my creativity and courage to save the planet. 

I intend to harness the power of slow passion, a kind of simmering energy that keeps me focused and engaged with my writing.