Thursday, June 5, 2008

Monkey Mind


Do you ever have moments when your mind goes from one thought to another, to another, to another...etc?

I heard the term monkey mind during a meditation once. The idea of meditation, well, ...what i've learned,... is to eventually quiet the mind or at least be able to notice the thoughts coming and going like on a river, floating on a leaf. You can watch it make all its winding turns before you can't see it anymore. Each thought can come and go like that. Another thought I want to add is this morning when i was doing dishes my MM started up and i told myself to focus on the dish i was washing and it worked, its a Thich Nhat Hanh method I believe, ...be in the moment with the dishes.......:)

Well, lately i've had monkey mind like crazy! I started a new med to help with some anxiety and such, and it didnt go so well. It put me into a daze and then caused some insomnia. No fun. Then when i went off of it yesterday it caused extreme anxiety. I got a lot of house work finished but it wasnt fun.

I wish sometimes we could switch our brains off at night along with the lights. Have you seen the movie "Alien"? The aircraft crew go into these pod like devices to sleep until they get to their destination. Almost like they are anesthetized.

Some day I bet we'll have devices to help us turn off the monkey mind and get a decent nights sleep.

For now i'm counting sheep, watching the river flow (then having to go to the bathroom), counting my breaths, drinking sleepy time tea, and waiting for the meds to get out of my system.

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Am I Doing Enough?


I've been thinking a lot about respecting the planet and doing things that I feel will benefit me financially as well as reusing etc...

I believe I do quite a bit for that sort of thing. There are certain things that are challenging but if I were to just take the extra time, they are possible. Its funny when we as humans get into our routines. Its a challenge to break them and start something new.

For example....I needed to replace my shower curtain liner. Its been over 6 months or so since I last got one. I have a cloth curtain and use a liner. The liner gets mildewy and starts to get that moldy smell. Ideally I could wash the liner. Right.....I just can't seem to justify taking the time to remove the liner from all those loops and lay it out on my living room floor and wash it. So I throw it away. Yep, all that plastic into the land fill.

Some day I will figure out how to wash one, or get a liner that doesnt need to be washed, or move into a place that makes it easier to do that kind of thing....

The things I do accomplish are using dish wash cloths instead of sponges, I can wash them with my laundry. I recycle all my paper/plastic/aluminum etc.... I reuse plastic baggies until they get funky or worn out. I try to not buy plastic containers, stick to glass. (buy bulk lettuce/mesclun). I bring my cloth bags to the grocery store (when I remember to), I don't have a car, so I walk most places or take a bus. I try to buy organic and local produce. I save my compost and my friend who has a garden takes it for me. I'm sure theres more....oh , and I try my best not to shop at Walmart or big corporate stores. Local is better!

So, what things can you do to respect Mother Earth and to save some money as well....maybe switching your lightbulbs to more efficient and earth friendly ones? Maybe throw some cloth bags into your car to shop with? Ask for paper instead of plastic?

If you start with just one thing, a trend can start.

I spoke with a guy recently who washes those styrofoam holders that the chicken gets packaged on., he washes them and when he has a stack of them brings them to a school or some business who can use them, say for paint pallets or mixing plates, or some sort of project.

Theres always going to be that one thing thats hard to change, like throwing out that plastic liner.

I'm working on it.