I love giraffes from horn to hoof.
They're dignified ... yet not aloof.
They're dignified ... yet not aloof.
Although they give my heart a tug,giraffes are much too tall to hug.
composed for me by my "ex"
on the long drive home
after spending considerable time
observing giraffes at the San Diego Zoo
My 100th Post was 6 Days Ago
I know I've been more than a bit obsessed with "tennis" lately, but things should be back to normal on Monday. Thanks for bearing with me. Did I mention I have a large collection of giraffes that were given to me through the years by family members and friends?Yesterday I left a brief Haiku about my 100th post at Small Reflections, and I thought this would be my 100th post here. However, upon checking I've discovered ...(after 96 days of blogging) ... I will have posted 106 times here at Sacred Ruminations, once I publish this piece. It hardly seems possible, but my Archives bear witness to this truth. After decades of writing solely for myself ... filling MANY journals, I seem to have "taken" to blogging in a HUGE way! And so today, I pause to reflect a bit on where I am with all this, and what I'd like to do next.
Revisiting my 1st post on this blog illustrates just how little I knew about adding photos (or anything else about blogging) for upon closer examination, it's obvious that my 2nd post is still my 1st ... in which I introduce Molly & myself and convey my intention to explore "My Sacred Life" for a month. I see how I ended up with "extra" posts because my Day 3 Sacred Life entry is in two parts as well because I still didn't know how to manage multiple photos in a single post. Subtracting those two doubled up posts makes today #104. Of course, I notice there are at least 6 more posts where I passed along information or shared links I'd discovered without really writing much of anything myself ... so it hardly seems "fair" to count those. Therefore, it's possible today is simply #98 ... (Are you laughing yet? I am ... in fact, I'm reminded of a time in 5th grade when our writing prompt was to speculate what might have happened if Wednesday had come on a Friday. Although I have no recollection of the specifics of the piece itself other than it was rather obsessively convoluted, my teacher's enthusiastic response and the A+ grade remain in memory ... but I digress).
Whatever the number of this post, this seems like a good time to reflect a bit. Before beginning to blog, I hadn't even read any blogs ... but at the suggestion of friends and family (after attending the Taos Writer's Retreat) I decided to give it a go. After a little more than 3 months, I'm happy I did. The unexpected pleasure at sharing my thoughts, learning how to do a myriad of new things, and meeting all sorts of folks in this virtual world absolutely amazes me even as I type the words.
This morning I encountered Blossoming Soul's blog. She's a Kindergarten teacher and aspiring writer who apparently doesn't permit comments but has many interesting posts. I've borrowed the following idea from her. She used it to review her year, but I use it to reflect upon my "blogging" thus far.
I'm proud of myself for ...
-- letting serendipity lead me to the Taos Writer's Retreat last summer
-- stepping out of my comfort zone to travel by car to and from New Mexico alone
-- opening myself up to inspiration and creative exploration
-- following through in this tangible manner of authoring two blogs
-- giving myself permission to experiment and make mistakes along the way in public
-- not allowing embarrassment or self-consciousness to hold me back
-- making a commitment write and share something each day
-- visiting other bloggers ... offering encouragement and support by leaving comments
-- responding on my blogs to each comment someone leaves for me
-- teaching myself how to do many "technical" things with HTML code, links, photos and the like
-- asking for and accepting help from others
-- sharing what I've learned with others
-- cultivating relationships in this virtual world
-- creating a "body of work" in the Blogosphere
-- joining with others in Thursday Thirteen and Haiku Friday
-- abstaining from trying to participate in everything, realizing I need to make choices to maintain a sense of balance and perspective
-- shedding the safety of anonymity & allowing myself to be known
-- playfully approaching much of what I do in this virtual world
-- facing my fears and sharing honestly and genuinely
I forgive myself for ...
-- waiting so long to begin sharing what I write and think
-- taking time away from blogging to do other things and maintain my relationships in the "real" world
-- being obsessed with Tennis during the Australian Open
-- falling behind on my blog reading and commenting
-- all that I don't yet know how to do
-- spending more time than I should at the computer and neglecting other tasks on my "to-do" list
-- being a perfectionist at times, driving myself nuts to get things "right"
-- not yet participating in Writer's Island, Cafe Writing, and Sunday Scribbles and being less than consistent with Inspire Me Thursday
-- reading fewer books than I normally do because blogging consumes so much of my free time these days
I suspect there may be things I'll want to add to these lists, but for I'm out of time for now and want to publish this before I move to other tasks. I'll consider where I wish to go from here on another day.
Thought for Today: "Ultimately your greatest teacher is to live with an open heart." from Emmanuel's Book
4 comments:
What a great idea for a post. I will have to check out her blog. Isn't it wonderful where life takes us when we dive head first into unknown waters? I really enjoyed your lists. I can relate to many of those you are proud of and forgive yourself for :)
Happy belated 100th post -- I have no idea when mine was, but I guess it must have been a while ago. I also never read a blog before I blogged, and now I do it daily!
I loved your lists -- especially forgiving yourself for being obsessed with tennis! :)
I'm awed by how much you've accomplished--congratulations on a fantastic hundred posts!
I've been a bit obsessed with the idea of balance lately, and it seems you've been thinking about it, too. I'm reminded of something a wise woman told me--balance is extremely important in a healthy, spiritual life, however, balance doesn't always mean a 50-50 split. Or 25-25-25-25. Maybe it's 15 for this, and 5 for that, with 25 here, and 30 there, and another 25 allotted for something else. It may appear that you're all over the place--but you're still 100% balanced. And the other thing she pointed out--the pieces of your pie will change, in both size and content. Right now, it seems tennis is making up the bulk of your pie, but it will soon be fading back to very little if anything at all. Perhaps your other slices will get bigger, or perhaps something else will take tennis' place. Who knows?
That's part of the beauty of life--going back and forth, become intense about something, then letting it ease up when something else comes up. It really is a dance--a passionate, lovely dance.
Sandy – Thanks (as always) for you enthusiastic comments. I hope YOU enjoy her blog as much as I do when I visit. It’s odd to not have the opportunity to respond, but I admire her ability to write without such feedback too.
MPJ – I suppose it’s never too late to do a list of 100 Things, but it’s not necessary either. The only reason I knew I was close to 100 is that a friend pointed it out to me. Even then, it seems my count was off here. Such is life and I forgive myself for that too. LOL
Karen – As for what I’ve accomplished, it helps to be happily retired with minimal demands on my time. You’re so right about balance shifting frequently. It reminds me of the Octavio Paz quote I read recently (and perhaps shared somewhere) about how “Wisdom lies not in fixity nor change, but in the dialectic between the two.” You’re so right … it’s a passionate, lovely dance!
It feels good to be catching up on comments today. Thanks for visiting and sharing your thoughts.
Hugs and blessings,
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