Day 6 500 words
A random day in a standard week.
Waking at 05:00 as I tend to do most days, I was struck by how dark it was today. Not a sound at all, the wood we live in was completely still, no birds yet awake, no deer moving around before the humans entered their space, no barking dogs, made a change, all accompanied by this eery stillnes. I marvelled at it’s beauty for 10 minutes with a fresh brew coffee in my hand.
Most mornings I like to get up and begin my guided meditation practice followed by my daily journal. Today though, I felt the pull of this dark still morning. It became my meditation and very quickly enveloped me in all its glory. I could have and would have remained there all day if would only have stayed that way. Of course it wouldn’t and all too suddenly the silence and the darkness were broken by a loud exhaust of a lone motorcycle, his bright headlight piercing the darkness. The note of his exhaust was thrilling and annoying at the same time. I confess to liking a good sounding sports exhaust, especially when ridden or driven well through the gear shifts to effect a great ride in the darkness. Knowing he could well see any oncoming traffic, he accelerated away up to the roundabout, making full use of the available tarmac. I imagined the face of the rider, broad beaming smile and a heartreate notched up with the exhilaration of the ride. Brilliant and bloody annoying as it was, I had things to do and set about my meditation.
Walking back to the house I heard the familar sounds of the fox making his rounds through the woodland in search of a meal or perhaps just having a nose around to see what was what. Either way, we both knew we're not alone and gave each other a wide berth.
On returning to the house I placed my coffee cup on the side and picked up my i phone 13 pro max, taped the screen and it instantly illuminated my surroundings. Selecting HeadSpace I begun my daily practice. 20 mins of quiet time with my thoughts and a quiet mind. I so enjoy the peace it brings to my entire day. Settling my thoughts into manageable traffic, I am always better for the time invested. It’s been about 10 years since I began my practice and I still find myself learning more, the thirst to discover and explore my mind is undiminished by the passing of time, quite the opposite in fact.
The daily practice of setting oneself down to be, has served me well through dark and light times in the past decade. I often wonder what the dark times would have been like without my daily practice.
My journal writing takes many paths and I often find repetition of specific feelings, wrongdoings, poor decisions and the enduring procrastination on certain things. I see a pattern in the things I enjoy and get something from. An altogther different pattern emerges for the ones I don’t. I typically only wrote one page per day as I find that enough. No judgment nor expectation of the words to make sense to anyone else, they are mine and for me alone. Therefore it matters not what purpose they serve, just that they do serve a purpose. Mine do, daily. As I reflect on a Friday afternoon on the week passed, I review my journal and select 3 things to be better at the following week. It’s a great reminder of just how easy it is to alter course 1° at a time.
Each day begun this way is good and I feel ready to face into the work and be a better version of me.
