Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Today is Martin Luther King Jr. Day - Today I am reminded again to honor the ongoing struggle for freedom, equality, and dignity for all people, and share in the efforts.

Agenda for today:

1. Love cycle

2. Intentions

3. Read "The Spirited Walker"

4. March
5. Index to MLK Day projects

Why Love?

Every year or two, I practice a 30-day love cycle of reading, thought, and small actions that help me to cultivate and improve the habits that allow me to keep love central in my life, and in my everyday interactions. 

Love is the key to happiness and success in all areas. Life is lived in relationship- in community- and no matter how brilliant and effective I am, I will struggle if I have poor relationships with the people in my life. Love is also a frame for my bond with the earth, with Spirit, and with myself.

Love is a practice, not a belief or feeling. It’s a set of habits learned over a lifetime: Listening, giving, speaking and acting in a loving way. It’s a way of being, with my attention on compassion, patience, generosity, kindness, and understanding. 

“By celebrating—and sharing—the love that already lives inside us, we can free ourselves from the fear, anger and sadness that cause so much suffering. I have seen firsthand that when we open our hearts to love’s abundance we are able to transform our lives and make the world a more just and peaceful place… When put into practice in our daily lives, these simple habits help us make the choice, day after day, to reject fear’s hold and embrace, instead, the immense power and grace within us.” --Ed Bacon

Agenda today:

1. Love plans

2. Be at ease

3. Talk journal on patience

4. Teachable Two's plan

New Year's Eve

Tonight is New Year's Eve - a big night for many people. W and I are traveling north to see family for the New year's weekend, as has been our tradition for a few years now.

Agenda today:

1. Christmas retreat

2. Kwanzaa principles

3. Celebration reading

4. Celebration and synergy goals for 2023

5. Prayer candle ceremony

6. Resolutions

7. Make noise!

May Joy

My focus this May is joy, contentment, self expression and play, and so this month I'm going to blog some of my ideas on this subject. 

Joy is a deep feeling, maybe too much to expect, a little over the top; most days I'm satisfied to feel calm and grounded, perhaps even mostly happy. But I think when we open to the possibility of feeling joyful we set the tone of the day to one of playful expectation. 

I'm not a bubbly person, but I have optimism: Even when things look bleak (which, let's face it, they generally do) I am able to get on with life. I do not advocate for "finding the silver lining" very often, because that is generally an exercise in denial of the full catastrophe we are in; what I do is acknowledge how crummy things are, then go ahead and celebrate the good bits.

Agenda this Month:

1. Read (and Practice) the Happiness Habit

2. Express myself

3. Celebrate the good bits