Spring - The first full day.

"In pursuit of happiness, the difficulty lies in knowing when you have caught up."
R.H. Grenville

I feel the need for a change of pace on this Wednesday morning.

For many years I tried to develop a habit of journaling and could never carry it through for more than a week or three. I tried morning pages from the "Artist's Way" book, but again, I could or would only make it through a few weeks before dropping it. I have always felt a need but never strong enough to develop the necessary habits. If you look at my profile you will find that it says I have been on Blogger since April of 2001 but I've only had a little over 200 profile views. I guess that would make me somewhat of an old timer at blogging, but I feel like a total newby. I do not know how many different times I have tried to start a blog only to give up when the habit didn't take hold. From the looks of this try though, I may have continued long enough to actually have set the habit.

I see that Julia Cameron has a website up for "The Artist's Way at Work". Looks like a new place to explore. There is also an "Artist's Way" Community at another site.

My time this morning is growing short, so I need to hit the emails...

• What a difference a day makes...Blue Ridge Mountain temps are back down in the low 40's this morning
• There seems to be an upside for the White House to the AG Scandal...We aren't still hearing about the scandalous treatment of the wounded veterans or Plamegate or Katrina or any of the hundreds of other fiascoes hosted upon America by this Administration.
• 'Tis the first (full) day of spring...Go see Garrison about what that means in Poetry.
• Wandering through the log of visitors to this site is always a lot of fun. It never takes a lot of time, few visitors each day. I am always surprised there are as many as there are. What always intrigues me though is the geographical data. Why did someone visit from China? Was it random?

Kate at Cider Press Hill introduced me to an old concept that is newly named for me but well practiced for years... Commonplace Books. What a glorious name for a concept that's inherit with the way my brain works. I have always kept notebooks, both paper and electronic, full of quotes and other bits and pieces of trivia pasted and copied onto the pages. To think, I have been creating Commonplace Books for years. Now that I know that this is an accepted self-publishing form of book-making, I will practice it with more respect for the tradition.

Along those lines, this quote was posted as appearing on a bumper sticker without the attribution. I find it fits well with my philosophy of life and personal mythology.

“Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.”

George Bernard Shaw

Tuesday Coffee Muses - Week 2771

The Mornings Weather

I see from the morning forecast that Spring has returned to the Blue Ridge Mountains. As a matter of fact, judging by the temperatures being reported this morning, many of you folks living in that beautiful part of the world might walk out this morning and think you slept through the season. Just don't think you'll get to enjoy the sun with the milder temps...Mother Nature seem to think the blooming flowers need a little watering. According to Ray though, all you folks need to enjoy the warmth today tomorrow will be cooler.

Here, we are already in the upper 60's. According to the weather prognosticator I listened to yesterday on our local Public Radio Station, that is 10 degrees above normal for this time of the year. I forget how many time in the last few years I have heard that term used. If the weather keeps doing what it is now, we may need to lose that phrase from our weather conversations.

Email Muses

Reading about the President's remarks on the fourth anniversary of the Iraq War I was struck by the thought that we have now been in Iraq for full Presidential term. The reason this struck me is that had Bush started this war a little earlier in his first term, and given what we now know, he could have with the very same justification they have now settled on, he probably wouldn't still be in office. "Courage and resolve" will see us through. Mr. President, it is with courage and resolve that the American people wake up every morning to find out what new excesses you have committed in the name of "terror". Sadly, your war "on" terror has morphed into a war "of" terror for many around the world. "Courage and resolve", who are you Mr. President to counsel such practices.

From the Blue Mountain Meditation Center...

March 20

He that can have patience, can have what he will.
– Benjamin Franklin

Here is a tip for keeping the palate on the middle path. When it is craving candy or a hot fudge sundae, go for a walk repeating the mantram you have chosen, and bargain for time. Tell your mind, “In two hours, on our way home we can go to an ice cream parlor for a deluxe sundae.” Interestingly enough, two hours later the mind has forgotten ice cream sundaes and is thinking about the movie it will enjoy tomorrow evening. All you need do is put just a little break of time between the palate and its desire, for you can count on the mind to change its desires.

Treat the mind gently, patiently, and compassionately. Since it has been allowed free license for so many years, it is not fair to expect it to come round in a day or two.

- Eknath Easwaran

I have not discovered my mantram yet. But I go through live with an open heart waiting to discover it's path.

Source: Thought for the Day

Well, as usual the morning has run and I need to also. I'll leave you with a couple of lines from the Middlewesterner from yesterday...

A Quote For Today

"There is something to settling down into a place. You become the place as much as the place becomes a part of you." - Tom Montag