#39
I ask myself "What do I want?" And my answer today is that I want to feel free and interested in life.
What I want will be my guide. I'll ask, "How can I interact with life in a way that allows me to feel free and interested in life? What choices, in every situation, allow me to feel free and interested in life? What thoughts, what actions, what perspectives, allow me to feel free and interested in life?"
Good questions.
Ask yourself: "What do I want?"
April 20, 2010
#38
Tenacity NoticeI have a few clients who don't use email, and they have asked me if I would send Tenacity Notes to them in print form.
After some thought and experimentation, I've decided I can offer Tenacity Notes as a weekly postcard. I figure it'll cost me about $20 to send Tenacity Notes for a year, so I am requesting a minimum subscription of $25.
It seems to me that the main reason people don't have email is because they can't afford it, which might make a $25 subscription hard to reach. So I'm creating a fund for those who want a subscription but don't have the money. I invite you to send a donation to that fund. You can donate via Paypal on my Web site -- the "Pay Now" button on the "Schedule a Reading" page (be sure to mention what it's for). Or you can contact me if you want to send a check. Thanks.
The postcard isn't just for those who don't use email. Anyone can subscribe. You can give a gift subscription. Let me know if you want to subscribe to a weekly Tenacity Notes postcard. You can contact me via jett@mm.com or 612-965-9708.
Some of you have told me that you copy Tenacity Notes to 3x5 cards; that you like to pick them at random as part of your spiritual practice. We've been doing Tenacity Notes for about 10 months. If you'd like a packet of Tenacity Notes postcards from the beginning to now, I'll do that for you, also for $25. Just let me know.
Lastly, if you know someone who you think would like to receive the print form of Tenacity Notes, please pass the word to them. Thanks.
April 13, 2010
#37
"Walking on water wasn't built in a day."
Jack Kerouac
(This is actually a Breath and Water Club Newsletter. But it put me in mind of Tenacity Notes from July 28, 2009, so I included it here.)
Why are we doing this?
Do you remember why we began this Breath and Water Club?
This is from my December, 2004 invitation to form a club: "Some of you may remember the following suggestion I gave in my classes: Drink 8 glasses of water a day and breathe for 15 minutes twice a day. Do that for 6 months and your life will change in ways you never dreamed of."
Practice is the means and the end
Breathing and drinking water every day is a good enough end in itself. But for us, it is more than that. It is also a means. A means to what end? That's the mystery -- it's a means to an end that will only be known when it arrives.
Some of you found that the daily practice of Breath and Water eliminated long held physical aches and pains. Some found that they'd finally gotten pregnant, or gotten their master's degree. Some were surprised to find a desire that led them to a new career when they thought they were preparing for retirement. Some found unimagined ease in this or that relationship. Some found that life wasn't as onerous as they'd thought. What have you found?
Practice prepares the ground. Practice creates the foundation.
The daily practice of Breath and Water creates a foundation from which your life can take off.
Ray Charles went to his studio every day to practice the piano. What did he practice? He practiced the scales. He practiced the basics. Did he play the scales when he performed? No, of course not. But his daily practice of the basics prepared the ground, so that when he performed, he could soar.
That's why we're doing this.
We're practicing Breath and Water for it's own sake, because it's good for us. But mostly, we're practicing Breath and Water because it prepares the ground so that, in our lives, we can soar.
Breathe: 15 minutes of intentional breathing twice a day.
Drink: 8 glasses of water a day.
"Walking on water wasn't built in a day."
Jack Kerouac
(This is actually a Breath and Water Club Newsletter. But it put me in mind of Tenacity Notes from July 28, 2009, so I included it here.)
Why are we doing this?
Do you remember why we began this Breath and Water Club?
This is from my December, 2004 invitation to form a club: "Some of you may remember the following suggestion I gave in my classes: Drink 8 glasses of water a day and breathe for 15 minutes twice a day. Do that for 6 months and your life will change in ways you never dreamed of."
Practice is the means and the end
Breathing and drinking water every day is a good enough end in itself. But for us, it is more than that. It is also a means. A means to what end? That's the mystery -- it's a means to an end that will only be known when it arrives.
Some of you found that the daily practice of Breath and Water eliminated long held physical aches and pains. Some found that they'd finally gotten pregnant, or gotten their master's degree. Some were surprised to find a desire that led them to a new career when they thought they were preparing for retirement. Some found unimagined ease in this or that relationship. Some found that life wasn't as onerous as they'd thought. What have you found?
Practice prepares the ground. Practice creates the foundation.
The daily practice of Breath and Water creates a foundation from which your life can take off.
Ray Charles went to his studio every day to practice the piano. What did he practice? He practiced the scales. He practiced the basics. Did he play the scales when he performed? No, of course not. But his daily practice of the basics prepared the ground, so that when he performed, he could soar.
That's why we're doing this.
We're practicing Breath and Water for it's own sake, because it's good for us. But mostly, we're practicing Breath and Water because it prepares the ground so that, in our lives, we can soar.
Breathe: 15 minutes of intentional breathing twice a day.
Drink: 8 glasses of water a day.
April 6, 2010
#36
I am still intrigued by that poem fragment from last week's Note. I've been reading it and thinking about it ever since.
I am withholding something, and that is making me weak; it is myself I am withholding from my life; my salvation is in surrender.
I wonder what it is that I must surrender? Ah, I must surrender my defenses!
Why? Because life is an adventure, and as we know from all good tales, adventure takes place beyond the walled city, out in the unknown world. Without vulnerability, there is no real adventure.
I surrender my defenses, engage the adventure of life, and see what happens!
I am still intrigued by that poem fragment from last week's Note. I've been reading it and thinking about it ever since.
I am withholding something, and that is making me weak; it is myself I am withholding from my life; my salvation is in surrender.
I wonder what it is that I must surrender? Ah, I must surrender my defenses!
Why? Because life is an adventure, and as we know from all good tales, adventure takes place beyond the walled city, out in the unknown world. Without vulnerability, there is no real adventure.
I surrender my defenses, engage the adventure of life, and see what happens!
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