This has been a good weekend even though it did not look in any way like I had planned. The rain and clouds kept me from bike riding. I don’t like to ride in the rain. My glasses get fogged up, the brakes get wet, and I just don’t trust drivers. It is best if I find other things to do.
One thing I know for sure is that boredom is for people with no imagination. I can’t remember the last time I was bored. I always have something at hand to do. Read, knit, music, drawing, writing, cooking, br
ushing my cat, cleaning my house, and on and on. I also don’t mind a 30 minute nap.
Today Boo and I celebrated our 2nd anniversary. She is such a great cat that I wanted to recognize the day. She, however, was not happy with the photo session and snubbed the grilled salmon. I guess I should have consulted with her about the plans.
I want to bring this weekend to a close by writing down a few things I learned through reading this weekend. I was listening to Pema Chodron in the car and reading the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. Pema Chodron spoke of how we can find ourselves hooked by our reactions to other people. I have often heard that when we don’t like someone it is because they are mirroring back to us some aspect of our self that we don’t want to see. I have never really quite bought into that idea. Pema Chodron, however, explains it as follows in her talk on The Three Commitments. We often have a certain idea of who we are. We may believe we are kind, intelligent, open minded, tolerant and so on. Sometimes when we come across someone that irritates us it may be because there is something about them that causes us to react in a way that doesn’t fit with the idea we have of our self. We get really uncomfortable. For instance, there is a certain female political/celebrity that I just don’t like. I don’t think the reason I don’t like her is because she and I have something in common. What makes me uncomfortable is my reaction to her. She is not on my wavelength and I find her presence in the world to be irritating in the same way that the sound of heavy metal music would irritate me while I am listening to a Bach cello concerto. I am so uncomfortable with my reaction to her that I have decided to no longer read about anything she does. It is for the best. I am at my best if I don’t react to her. It is all about choice, too. I have a choice as to what I engage in and what my attitude is.
When I read the sutras of Patanjali I was reminded that it is the obstacles in life that help us grow. It is the recognition of this that can ease our minds in times of trouble. Both the sutras and Pema Chodron talked about how important it is to remember that no matter what we are going through, there is also someone else going through the same pain, the same joy, the same suffering, the same ecstasy. We are not alon e in anything. We are all connected. Knowing this can help us become less attached to outcomes. We know that things change anyway so there is no need to get attached to what is. It all passes eventually and our attitude toward attachment and change will determine our suffering. I once heard that suffering = our pain X our resistance to the pain. I try to remember this when I am hooked or caught up in some discomfort or dis-ease. If I don’t resist it, I am less likely to suffer and the discomfort will not last as long.
I spent some time doing a Zentangle this evening. I went to a craft/art store in the lovely village of Warner, NH today and found some great books on Zentangle by Sandy Steen Bartholomew. I highly recommend them to anyone interested in Zentangle. They are Totally Tangled and Yoga for the Brain. They help you take the Zentangle out of the box. I also found a small book of black paper on which to do white on black Zentangles. I did my first white on black while listening to the Eroica Trio, one of my favorite piano trios. The cellist, Sara Sant'Ambrogio , makes me cry with love for the music.
Good night and have a blessed week.
Namaste!
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