ThisMoment

Boundaries - I need to go construct boundaries for my day... So I have only a few moments.

Sari, regarding your comment about how to use the "This Moment Calendar", I think it is to notice anything you are feeling in your body, mind, soul and that writing elicits the awareness, sortof like meditating on paper. I will share some moments:

Antsy cause I have so much to do
Dove on wire above jacaranda trees is no longer there
Arms look relaxed on computer board even though I am tensed for what to do today
I will need strength to tackle tasks for today
I think I'll take EmergenC
And walk - schedule a walk
I notice the long post I just did disappeared when I went to edit it
I need to save in the future
I will share with Sari a "This Moment Calendar" I filled in when I first created it when I was in a meditative and perhaps wanting to appear meditative frame of mind
I will use the This Moment calendar myself and see what it is like to use it
My breathing is a little jagged
I feel some nervousness
I put my hands criss-crossed in the center of my chest
And ask for the Creator's help for today
In my humble way, I'd like to be in harmony
I'd like to be a BlessingSong
And put faith in practice as in the quote I read this morning:

"There are three kinds of Faith: first, that which is from tradition and birth. For example: a child is born of Muhammadan parents, he is a Muhammadan. This faith is weak traditional faith: second, that which comes from Knowledge, and is the faith of understanding. This is good, but there is a better, the faith of practice. This is real faith. (Abdu'l-Baha, Abdu'l-Baha in London, p. 64)

Oh Creator guide me
Oh Creator I trust you and all those that help me. may I be open to Your subtle suggestions

Love, Claudia

P.S. If you click on the calendar, as you know, the image will enlarge and you can read at least some of the words that are there. This was the meditative "This Moment Calendar" - the first one I created when I didn't notice fears and anxieties like I did today.

BlessingSong

What is a BlessingSong?
I don't know. The word just occurred to me.

I know once I was sick in the waiting room of a hospital and someone sang and it brought me hope. My heart went up an octave. Perhaps I can be BlessingSong for others... A song has rhythm, and often harmony, and words that are about a real experience or that inspire. I would like to be a BlessingSong. And if someone thought of me, or the moment I was in their life, they would feel that blessing again, and it would add to the blessing in their life and my life. Forgive me if I am a little esoteric this morning.

I wanted to answer Sari's question about how to use the This Moment Calendar. But first I want to share a quote I just read that presented a challenge. As I write about it I see it fits into the reflection on BlessingSong.

"There are three kinds of Faith: first, that which is from tradition and birth. For example: a child is born of Muhammadan parents, he is a Muhammadan. This faith is weak traditional faith: second, that which comes from Knowledge, and is the faith of understanding. This is good, but there is a better, the faith of practice. This is real faith. (Abdu'l-Baha, Abdu'l-Baha in London, p. 64)

The faith of practice. Yesterday I was part of a poetry reading at the Creative Arts Center....and afterwards I spoke with a younger poet - she was perhaps 21 or 22. And my conscience tells me that though I spoke with her about her college plans and she said she was honored to be part of a book with such poets, I didn't see her like I would see a peer my age, and that I practiced ageism. And I know I want to stretch and let go of these categories of conformity I've subscribed to. And I see how the society itself is keeling over because it signed up for conformity also - conformity on how much savings to have or not have and that debt was OK, and that certain people were enemies, etc...

So, in terms of the this moment calendar, these are a few of my current moments I would put into the calendar:

Breathing deeply, sighing, feeling a tinge of discomfort and sadness, feeling embarrassed to reveal myself, feeling open but a little scared, aware that I need to schedule my day as yesterday I didn't allot time to some important things, wanting to do dishes, left eye feels sore, so does right, bun feels tight on my head, I see the mess of papers and stuff on my desk, decide to get going, take hair out of bun, see glasses and eye glasses and stuff I want to put in purse when I stop typing, decide to schedule my day next, notice trees above my curtain and a dove on the wire above trees, take down curain so I can see two huge jacaranda trees, wonder at the lone dove sitting there that I hadn't seen, maybe it is a pigeon I think, but pigeons don't fly that high, do they?, wonder if this dove/pigeon is a sign from the Creator, facing me like this, maybe meaning that something beautiful is always there but I might not always see it - cause I'm looking in a different place, a flying creature/bug flies by...

Well, this was how my calendar went for that 10 seconds or so. I will include the moments calendar where I was either in a more meditative or trying to appear I was in a more meditative space, and...the dove-high flying pigeon is still there, my eyes are sore because I'm tired, I need to do something about my inflatable bed that is deflating while I sleep, and sagging.

I thought this post was lost because the page was blank when i returned to it so I started another labeled This Moment. (I found post - it had auto-saved). The "This Moment" blog continues from here and repeats the quote and some of the threads...but actually was valuable because I can see, and hope you can see, how movement occurred when I watched my moments as I continued in the ThisMoment blog. Have a good moment!!