Peace at work.
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One of the many books on my night table right now is called Quiet Mind: One Minute Retreats from a Busy World by David Kundtz. Every couple nights I pick it up and randdomly flip through. Last night I came across a section called Finding Peace at Work. I thought the meditation entry entitled Weariness was really powerful and useful and I want to share it with you today:
Just typing that all out made me feel a little more calm.
Things are crazy here. In so many good ways. Life is so like that. Yesterday nothing was happening for me. Words would not come that needed to come. Creativity was taking a nap...so I decided to take a nap too. Trying to allow myself little time outs...carving out times to relax my mind, change my scenery, refresh my creativity.
I am also really trying to make time when I go to bed to read - often times I am just too worn out, but for now that is the best time. My main book right now, the one that is currerently living in my head, is called Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner. I picked it up from the Portland airport last weekend. It is good. At the airport they have a couple Powell's Books shops that are like heaven for travelers. I was looking for the new Oprah book, A Million Little Pieces (which I have ordered now) but they were all out. So I walked around and read the little tags that employees had placed near the books - recommending ones that had meant something to them. Crossing to Safety was one of those books. It is about two couples friendship over the years. Wallace Stegner is a really amazing author - rich in vocabulary and description and emotion. I imagine I will read other books from him after this.
Maybe today you will join me in taking a few mini-breaks, a matter of seconds really, to follow the meditations above. Just a bit of positive self-talk to help us all.
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32 comments
thanks for the awesome post, ali!
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A, that book rocks. Wow, the Mountain of Too Much... must be a huge mountain as i've got one right here too. Peace to you, sista!
kah-mei
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Thank you for your inspiring post today...
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Do you ever find that sometimes -- as if by magic -- just the words that you need to hear find their way into your life when you need to hear (read) them? So it was with your post today. Thank you for the thoughts on the "Mountain of Too Much." Exactly where I'm at right now. Exactly what I need to be reminded of. And I loved being reminded of that book... which has been sitting on my bookshelf... but is now sitting on my nightstand -- much more likely to be read and enjoyed again!
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hi ali, sounds like you are able to put things into perspective that is a great feeling of accomplishment in itself i think. i am in korea on a trip with my best friend, we are picking up her baby that she is adopting and it has been really great to read your blog while i am here, i am a little homesick. since i have been here i have been reading a million little pieces and this book is the opposite of what you are reading it is purely exhausting to read, i finished it last night and it is truly one of the most powerful books i have ever read there were times when i was reading it that i had to put it down because i thought i was going to puke, that is no exaggeration, i cant wait to hear you reactions to this fascinating and all too real story when you read it. keep everything in perspective, listen to a little grateful dead Jerry always makes me feel calm and comfortable---lisa
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FYI, for Ali or anyone interested, this passage is based on Buddhism. Anyone of any religion can study Buddhism and gain insight into how to have a more peaceful and enlightened life. Meditation, of which this was a guided one, is the primary practice of Buddhism. :)
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Ali~ Now I'm ready to take a nap, have some tea and read a good book!
(although, with 4 kids at home..it ain't gonna happen until after 8pm when they go to bed!)hehehehehehe!
Thanks for sharing!
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Found your post from a link on another blog - I have to echo a few others & say how grateful I am for you posting this & how timely it feels - Thank You! I've been chipping away at the Mountain for awhile now, and that passage is so right - when I step back and look at the enormity of it all, it's quite exhausting and overwhelming. Gave me some great food for thought & put things into perspective - thanks again! ^_^
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ulta cool photo!
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Crossing to Safety is one of my favorite books of all time. I have probably bought fifteen copies in my life time, but I always find myself giving them away. I have found no book that better captures the realities of marriage and what it means for two real, live, living, breathing, wonderful, flawed human beings to bind themselves together and then live their lives. It captures both the joys and the challenges of marriage, real marriage, not movie marriage. Go Wallace. Enjoy the read. Pick up some Jim Harrison next. He's not Stegner, but he has an incredible talent for capturing the delicate balance between the civilized and the primal inside us all.
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That quote was exactly what I needed to read this morning. Thanks, Ali.
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dang! MOUNTAIN OF TOO MUCH.... i can totally relate and that statement says it perfectly...
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