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29th May 2009

It's a cold but blue and sunny Friday in the mountains... the weekend beckons! Look for an adventure and you're sure to find one; look to share some love and joy and you're sure to find some; look beyond yourself and you'll be the salvation of your little part of this universe.

beauty in the kingdom

Mindfulness

How to Live in the Moment

from wikiHow - The How to Manual That You Can Edit

Living in the moment is all about living like there's no tomorrow. It takes practice but in the end, you'll lead a fuller life. To do this you must realize beauty in every moment, and in everyday activities. This is your life, now live!

Steps

1. Take notice of the world around you. No matter what you're doing, try to find something beautiful around you. Maybe on your way to work or school, you go over a beautiful bridge, or you get a view of the sunrise behind the city buildings. Realizing these small things can bring life and happiness even to the most boring or routine days. Be thankful for those little things.
   
2. Focus on whatever you're doing. Even if you're just walking, or wiping the counter, or shuffling cards - how does it feel? There's probably some kind of commentary spinning through your mind, and it probably has to do with something other than what you're doing. Let those thoughts go and focus on what is (not what was, or what could be). In Buddhism, this is referred to as mindfulness. Pay attention to your senses - touch, sight, smell, sound, and taste. Pretend it's the very last time you'll ever experience whatever you're experiencing. Have you ever been so engrossed in something that it seemed like the rest of the world just disappeared? Living in the moment is about creating that state of mind at any time. Slow down, and try to savor the present.
   
3. Smile when you wake up. You can set the tone of appreciation and awareness for the next 24 hours by simply waking up and smiling.[1] Don't wake up with a groan and a smash of your alarm clock. There's scientific proof that the expressions that you make with your face can actually influence how you feel.[2] In particular, true happiness is most closely tied to a Duchenne smile which involves smiling with your eyes, as well as your mouth.[3]
   
4. Commit random, spontaneous acts of kindness. Whether it's donating 1 dollar to a fund at the pharmacy, picking up litter, or helping victims of natural disasters, keep alert in every moment of your day for some way in which you can make the world a better place. Even the smallest thing, like complimenting someone, can bring joy. It's the most spontaneous and unexpected acts of kindness that produce the greatest impact, and you can't be sensitive to those kinds of opportunities unless you're living in the moment.
   
5. Minimize activities that dull your awareness of the moment. What are you doing that tempts your mind to run away from the present? For most people, watching television puts you in a passive state of mind, and time slips right by. Daydreaming and getting lost in a good movie or book isn't bad, but it's not living in the moment because it places your concentration on something that isn't right here, right now; it's a form of escapism. Don't zone out; zone in. Do things that are active, and that encourage you to look around and engage the world in that moment. Gardening, playing a game, knitting, and playing an instrument are all activities that lend themselves to mindfulness. So get off the computer after reading this article!
   

Video

Tips

• Play with kids! Children don't worry about the future; they play and enjoy every moment for what it is. They haven't yet learned to think ahead, or mull over the past, so take the opportunity to learn from them.
  
• Forgive. Many of us carry grudges with us that haunt us, and those grudges also prevent us from opening our hearts to others because we're scared of getting hurt again.
  
• Watch your breath, by noticing your breathing pattern your mind naturally quiets and pays more attention to the present moment.
  
• Listen to music and enjoy it. Express your self by dancing to it or singing along.
  
• Participate in active conversation and engage in the subject matter with another human.
  
• Think about how happy your good deed could make someone!
  

Warnings

• Living in the moment doesn't mean you shouldn't care about the future, or do reckless, irresponsible things. It means that when you make a choice to do something, you focus on actually doing it, rather than letting your mind dwell on the future (or past).
  
• Do not let living in the moment be offensive, rude, uncaring, intrusive, or inconsiderate of others while focusing on living for yourself
  

Related wikiHows

• How to Be Laid Back
  
• How to Meditate
  
• How to Live a Simple and Peaceful Life
  
• How to Avoid Multi Tasking
  
• How to Focus and Get a Felt Sense
  

Sources and Citations

1. ↑ "Present Moment Wonderful Moment" by Thich Nhat Hanh. ISBN 093807721X


2. ↑ http://www.springerlink.com/content/y9575l5511111457/


3. ↑ http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=16900751

Article provided by wikiHow, a collaborative writing project to build the world's largest, highest quality how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Live in the Moment. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.

Poppy Day!

The poem that is believed to have inspired the idea of Poppy Day (Remembrance Day, the 11th November):

In Flander's Fields

In Flanders' fields the poppies blow
between the crosses, row on row,
that mark our place; and in the sky
the larks, still bravely singing, fly
scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the dead. Short days ago
we lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
loved and were loved, and now we lie
in Flanders' fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe;
to you from failing hands we throw
the torch; be yours to hold it high.
If you break faith with us who die
we shall not sleep, though poppies grow
in Flanders' fields.

[John McCrae, 1915; McCrae died a few weeks after writing this poem.]

Maputo beachfront

That day we smelled the sea,
felt the rain,
and first spent half-an-hour
sipping sweet coffee
while amaZyoni huddled in
tight groups all along the beach.

Everyone was cold, you said:
the worshippers;
you; me.

Later, when you spoke of your latest lover,
I looked away beyond the cafe
at the coconut palms
being shaken by the wind,
and the salt spray
breaking on the wall,
all the while
wishing I could stop
the shaking that seemed
to clutch so tightly at my heart.

01st November

A new morning,
the dawn awake;
a new day,
scrubbed clean and fresh and scoured
like a bath
waiting to be filled with water; reading
Martin Luther King's "Strength to Love"
and thinking
of you
regularly,
as I ought to,
wishing you were here,
your flesh soft and warm and slack
beside me.

Does absence
make the heart grow fonder?
i don't think so.
Absence just brings a sense of loss,
of someone missing, a lack;
that last piece of the jigsaw
that you search for
in the box
but cannot find.

A Wine Guide To Women

If the path to bliss begins with a kiss, why do you end up with blisters? Learn this: there are four basic types of women out there, types analogous to wines.
- semi-sweet 

These are the honeys who will cheat you. Attractive, easily approachable, they smile so sweetly, but their looks flatter in order to deceive.
- dry
 The unresponsive cold shoulder. No matter what you try here, you'll make little impression. If she doesn't smile within the first five minutes, get out of there.
- sparkling 

The sparkle is for them, not you. Also known as gold-diggers, these see you as just another accessory to complement (and hopefully pay for) their individual style.
- red 

Short for red-hot, these are the whirlwind passionate women you can't resist, so don't even try. Unfortunately, they invariably turn out to be femme fatales, meaning they'll kill you. But at least they're worth dying for.

Has this helped you? Learn this: any woman you meet is dangerous, far more dangerous than crossing the street. But danger always brings an adrenaline rush, and many dangers are good for you--as long as you survive them, that is. Remember the old adage, 'You can't live with them, can't live without them.' Men are clearly the weaker sex, despite their proud boasts. What's a poor boy to do? Study the whine list? Or start drinking beer--alone?

Times Sunday Man, August 19th, 2001
© Kenneth Rowley, 2001

In the aftermoon



In the aftermoon

In the aftermoon,

in a quiet hour,

I watched you sleeping:

dark and lovely,

sof-n-free,

your small, slender,

recently relaxed body

an s-curl
in the salon of our bed.


[Ken Rowley]

The Buttons Of Your Mind

You’re not mine any more
as we take our last walk together
along the midnight shore
before we say goodbye forever.

Shall I call you love, use your name?
Shall I wear my sadness face or look the same?
I am careful to avoid the touch of your hand.
I must not be drawn into the bedroom of your eyes.

You could say you’d see me soon.
But you’re as silent as the moon.
You could say Let’s talk together,
but you think of other men.
I wonder if I ever knew
the more elusive inner you,
for the buttons of your mind
were difficult to find
and my fingers far too clumsy.

[Roger McGough? 1968?]

This was, I think, the b-side of The Scaffold's 1968 hit, "Lily the Pink" & is suitably dada for the time. 1968 was also the year of the Bonzos' "I'm the Urban Spaceman/ In the Canyons of your Mind" & the Beatles' "Happiness is a Warm Gun... Number 9". Also 1968 was the publication of Adrian Henri's "Tonight At Noon" poetry volume, which included a discussion on dada/surrealism & examples of 'poems without words'.

Shake, Rattle & Roll!

As a young boy I was given a copy of Bill Haley's 'Rock Around the Clock' LP by an uncle who couldn't stand 'this new music'. "Shake, Rattle & Roll" was of course on there and I loved the line about 'the one-eyed cat peepin' in a seafood store' with all the innocence of a child. Nowadays I listen to Joe Turner's original rather than Haley's, and understanding now what 'one-eyed cat' and 'seafood store' refer to, the innocence is long gone but my love for the song still remains.

Both Turner's and Haley's recordings are from 1954 and whilst researching the history of "Shake, Rattle & Roll", I got side-tracked by the phrase 'rock & roll'. The first use of this seems to have been in black gospel, a reference to rockin and rollin in the arms of Moses. Given that r&b, soul, and even rap has its origins in black church this is unsurprising. Here's a wonderful lyric from 1939:

Waves on the ocean, waves in the sea,

But that gal of mine rolls just right for me

Rockin' rollin' mama, I love the way you rock and roll

You ease my troubled mind and pacify my weary soul

which appeared in a song called 'Rockin' Rollin' Mama'.