Rain was predicted. Instead, the sun is shining–brilliantly. Oh, darn.
🙂
Gearing up to head out for Colorado Springs tomorrow–if you’re coming to the Pike’s Peak Writers Con (Kimberlee, this means you), be sure to come up and say howdy. As stated yesterday, I will have some ATCs (artist trading cards) on hand to trade. I’m taking my iPad along and I think I know how to blog on it, so I hope to keep you up to date on my doings. This conference promises to be GREAT–lots of fun and lots to learn. And I won’t have to lug my laptop along. Yeehaw! It just gets better and better.
I’m learning to meditate. I say ‘learning’ because sitting still is a challenge for me, if I’m not doing something with my hands. So I set the timer on my phone–nifty, zen-like brass gong–for 10 minutes, with the goal of just sitting quietly. Thoughts roll by, as do cars on the high road on the other side of the valley. At present, I allow myself coffee and my electronic cigarette (the miraculous little device that keeps me a non-smoker), but nothing else. I just sit there. Once this has become a solid habit, I will eliminate my coffee and e-cig from the process. After sticking with that for at least a week, I’ll work up to closing my eyes. 🙂 At around four in the afternoon, I repeat the whole process. Sounds like a slow and persnickety path, doesn’t it? Especially when my ultimate goal is 20 minutes of true meditation, morning and afternoon. But it’s a lot better than just knowing I SHOULD meditate, as before.
Did you know that meditation, among other things, actually restructures the brain, and we’re talking physically here, not metaphorically??? It’s a phenom called ‘neuroplasticity’–the brain can actually be altered by various methods, including nutrition, exercise, etc. If you’re curious, check out any one of Daniel Amen’s books on the subject, and that’s just for a start. This is a fascinating field–depression, for instance, literally damages the 3 pounds of gray matter inside your head. The good news is, there are many, many things we can do to reverse that damage, and to keep sharp as we get older. I’m all for that, and I suspect a few million other baby-boomers are, too. 🙂
I’m beginning what I call a Creativity Experiment with the new book, “Big Sky Country”, the first of the Parable series. (By the way, a few of you noticed that the town in “The Vow” was called Parable, but it was in Nevada. My explanation: I like the name so much, I want to use it again). It’s no big secret, this C.E., and it won’t sell for trajillions of dollars and turn me into a self-help guru, but I hesitate to pass it on before I’m sure it works. So about a month into writing the book, I’ll know whether it works for me or not and, either way, I’ll pass it on.
And that, amid dog snores and rapidly fading sunshine, is the news from my kitchen table.
Be well, be safe, and be kind.
