Will to Rebuild

I had my first gym session since I got Covid in December on Monday.

Which means I have to rebuild muscles. I was not doing much exercise which isn’t like me at all. I at the least do home workouts when I can’t make the gym. But the last couple months I just chilled.

What’s interesting is that I’m not upset that I have to rebuild. I’m fully aware that it’s going to take time and intention to get back to where I was. It’s like this, since I’ve worked out most of my life, I know it’s a lifestyle and not a race. I don’t know a lot about fitness but I do know daily habits pay off because I’ve experienced it.

I always compare my gym life to my writing life because both of them are all about daily habits and having the right mindset. I think the same thing is going to happen with being a writer. I’m fully aware that it’s going to take time and intention to finish my novels. I really wanna be finished with my novel. I really wanna just take myself on a road trip and bang it out. But past experiences have taught me that writing and living my daily life, (momming, wife-ing, side hustles, hanging out with friends and family) go hand in hand. Not just for writers, but for all artists. So I’m just carving away at it daily with a focused mind, a steady pace, and the will to finish.

Random Thoughts

[Most times] I’m sold on the creative ways to say something mundane. And those bold enough to learn from the mundane

Today I learned that if I really want something, being too tired isn’t going to keep me from doing the work. (But I still took a nap after I finished the work.)

Consistency is a natural part of life and so is change.

Random question of the day

Is the concept of monotheism outdated?

My automatic answer is no, of course not. But I still think about the question. And I think it would be interesting to come up with why it’s not outdated.

My Drive

I’m not driven by money. Don’t get me wrong, when someone hands me cash to take care of myself, I feel loved and cared for and grateful but money is not nor has ever been a driver for me to accomplish things.

When I’m truly heard, supported, and understood that is what gives me the space to excel in my projects, work, and life in general. Over the years, I’ve learned to provide those things to myself. I was prompted to think about this from my last post titled Sunday Rest Days. I shared a video of Maya Angelo talking about how important it is to protect that sacred space inside us. And how important it is to forgive but still say, no. I think what she says is the best insight on ways we can truly hear, support, and understand ourselves.

Most of my life I bent myself inside out to make sure other’s lives were comfortable. But I wasn’t comfortable. My life wasn’t even close to where I wanted it to be. Now, when I hear Maya Angelo speak on protecting that sacred place, I feel like I’m exactly where I need to be. I feel like I’m finally on the right track.

And so now with a healthier mindset (I’m still learning) I can feed my drive and continue to create a life the suites me.

Sunday Rest Day

My Sunday rest day was much needed this week. My head has been spinning trying to get a few new things together. My heart has been pulled in so many directions. With so much on my plate, I have to prioritize my free time. With so much value in the world I’d like to create, I choose to stand strong in my faith and in my beliefs.

I’d like to see livable wages, livable work hours, children raised by a safe and secure village. To see these things as possible, I must live and act as if it is, and even more so, create as if it is.

Being called foolish or crazy may sting a little bit but not enough to deter me from my dreams. It might hurt. It could even mean I have to step away from someone I love, but at the end of the day, I wanna make living a little bit easier for us. When I was young, I didn’t realize how many opportunities were there for me. I wanna make the impossible possible and give people a reason to dream and reach for the things they didn’t even know to reach for.

Plato’s Cave

My latest interest.

I like both of these animations. I really like how the responsibility that comes with enlightenment is described here. We should all seek knowledge and truth in our ways and when/if you find that tribe that’s willing to listen, share, and grow with you, it will still be the tribes (as a whole and as individuals) responsibility to inspire and encourage ascent to those who weren’t yet ready.

Inclusivity, Equity, Connection, and Gentle guidance with firm boundaries all support growth, enlightenment, ascent.

But what’s important here is if the individual has not yet taken the path out of the cave, he would not be able to grasp the concepts and ideas presented to him. So what does it require to truly gain knowledge in this allegory?

And to end this one post Beyonce’s Freedom

What is your take on Plato’s Cave? Or what’s your favorite part? I’m so interested

Poem Trade

I share one I find. You share one you find.

I’ll go first,

Te Deum
Charles Reznikoff - 1894-1976

Not because of victories
I sing,
having none,
but for the common sunshine,
the breeze,
the largess of the spring.

Not for victory
but for the day's work done
as well as I was able;
not for a seat upon the dais
but at the common table.

Road Trip Check in

We made it safe to our hotel pretty late. It’s windy out here in Austin! The wind was treating the trucks on our route like rag dolls. Lot’s of trucks were on the side rode and we even seen a couple trucks regain control after battling the wind on the road in front of us.

We were safe and we drove safely. My sister even taught me how to check tire pressure. Hahaha It’s fun to get out and be away from the daily habits that make me feel productive. Makes me think differently about productivity.

I’m just glad we’re using the wind to fill our sails! On to our next adventure!

Pursuit of Happiness & The Life of Meaning

“But we can still participate in a deeper and more lasting sense of happiness when we choose the life of meaning over that of mere happiness. Happiness stays with us longer when we let it come uninvited rather than on-demand.”

toomajj's avatarNOEMAYA

Happiness or meaning! Which would you choose?

Happiness is about how we feel, physically and mentally, so its attainment is a matter of attention to one’s self. Meaning, on the other hand, is about how we are spiritually oriented toward the other, an activity that by nature must aim at something beyond and greater than one’s own self. This problematic situation reminds me of Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle.

The problem with the pursuit of happiness is that no matter how much we improve our surrounding conditions to be conducive of our happiness, we will soon get accustomed to those very conditions and the good feelings wear off. As a result, we lose ourselves to an endless project of an ever more intricate maintenance of our physical and mental states. Unlike the pursuit of meaning that opens us to the other, the sole pursuit of happiness shuts us off from the other.

View original post 574 more words