Mind Less Monday: Compost, Clutter, and Clearing

Mind Less Monday

An Effort to Not Be Mind Full or Even Mindful

Compost, Clutter, and Clearing

 

Mind less. I don’t want to be mindful all the time or even most of the time. It’s a worthy endeavor, but my mind is already full most days. If I give careful—that is, mindful—attention to everything, I foresee serious brain overload. To avoid such an experience, and for a different take on all things Zen, I will have Mind Less Mondays.

Monday, July 23, 2018, greets me with a mind full of deadlines, distractions, and dishes. It will be a challenge to mind less today, but I shall try.

I will mind less that my e-mail inbox overflows with projects and deadlines to meet. Rather, I choose to be grateful I’m busy and well-employed.

I will mind less the mess that beckons me in a siren’s voice to clean, declutter, and clear. Instead, I will look past the disarray I spy during these morning hours. I will not give in to the distraction of busy-ness that often equals few important accomplishments.

I will mind less the dog hair and general chaos that mean we have a dog. Instead, I will be grateful for his company, his delight when I share my food, and his protective nature that means I have few fears while he guards my home.

I will mind less the overflowing compost container that I must schlepp to the pile this morning. Peach pits, avocado pits, banana peels, and vegetable scraps mean I’m eating well.

I will mind less the weeds that threaten to overwhelm my flowerbeds and herb gardens. The rain and sun that spurred their growth mean the flowers and herbs also are thriving.

Mind Less Monday reminds me to focus on what is important to bring to mind and what I should mind less, much less.

Words: Choose Them Wisely and Use Them Well

Words Have Power

Choose Them Wisely and Use Them Well

 

“In Hebrew, the word dabar means both word and deed. A word

doesn’t merely say something. It does something. It brings something

 into being. It makes something happen.”

                            ~ Frederick Bueckner, from Listening to Your Life

Words make things happen. When I speak or write a word, that word sparks something in the listener or reader. When I, as listener or reader, encounter certain words, those words become more than a combination of letters and sounds. Those letters and sounds might evoke emotions and memories. They might spur me to action or steer me to a place of quiet contemplation. They might rouse me to anger or wash me in tears of grief and even joy.

Words have power. It is crucial that we choose them wisely and use them well.

Consider some of the words in this piece of writing. What do they evoke or inspire in you?

Speak

Write

Sparks

Encounter

Emotions

Memories

Spur

Steer

Action

Quiet

Contemplation

Rouse

Anger

Tears

Grief

Joy

Power

Wisely

Well