Existence and Mindfulness

I struggled with the mechanics of meditation for years. I stared at a candle flame but couldn't process how to let go. These days I am the sky and most thoughts are easily understood to be clouds. I can choose to watch them, see amusing shapes in them, ignore them or get swept up in the accompanying winds and precipitation. I can appreciate the warmth of the sunshine should it be that sort of day. I can struggle with the cold should that be what my mind works itself into.

I remind myself that this is the only moment that is tangibleand that life is simply a series of moments. I am trying to live in my moments instead of miring down into a past I cannot, often, understand or a future that I cannot predict. What happiness is there in being out of awareness?

How I came to be who I am "now" occasionally occupies my mind. I am relentlessly "coming to be" and yet find my preference is to shed who I am in danger of becoming. Listen here for an important perspective on existence from Alan Watts.

I concede that I am still an infant. The more I explore the more I realize I have more to explore.

I Plant Seeds

I plant seeds.

I have strong opinions on many things. Others? Meh. Here's a list.

1. We are stewards of the Earth. We don't live here rent free.
2. Women reign sovereign over their bodies.
3. Good character and Integrity are valuable assets.
4. Government must be accountable to the people.
5. Spying on citizens is wrong.
6. There is no one right religion.
7. Living in fear prevents a person from living fully.
8. "This" is the best moment of your life. Why? Because it's the moment you are living in. Being present is underrated and undervalued.
9. Death is something worth talking about.
10. Comparing oneself to the lived or curated appearance of the living of others is  a waste of time.
11. Kindess matters, to ourselves, and others.
12. No one child's life is more or less important than another.
13. There is evil in the world.
14. Most leaders in the United States have psychopathic tendencies.
15. Father doesn't know best, in the sense of patriarchy.
16. Religion can make peope stupid and hateful and dangerous.
17. Journalism is dead.
18. Racism exists.
19. Family can be any grouping of people who care for each other and have each other's back, so to speak.
20. Fake words and concepts masquerading as science are detrimental.