This is a very sad story of Mason, a friend's kitty who needs help ( Read more... )

 A joy to think about: Seeing wonderful pictures of my granddaughter playing in the rain.  It's sort of two joys--one is the second-hand relived pleasure of doing that myself, a joy that's contagious from seeing her feeling it.  I can think of that as a pure joy without attachment--the pleasure of the senses without clinging, something I could ( Read more... )

 So in my own life, lots of joy. But I've been thinking about this joy of the day thing. Joy is great--as long as it doesn't turn into attachment. To me, joy is something that I can love and relish and then let go of, but attachment is the feeling that I must have this person, event, thing, moment, experience, or I can't be happy. And from my ( Read more... )

Taking care of yourself:   Several people have mentioned how stressed they are since the election--and I'm sure the people who haven't mentioned it have felt it. There are lots of great ways to lessen stress and get away from that awful sinking feeling, but one of the best is breathing. I don't know if you've tried meditation and thought it didn't ( Read more... )

 Today's joy:  Followed from yesterday's--several hours at my book club discussing The Tsar of Love and Techno. We're all very good friends who taught English together for 20 years and more at a community college, so we had a lot to say about the connections and themes and people and ideas in the book. And then we spent at least an hour talking ( Read more... )

She was warned. She was given an explanation. Nevertheless she persisted.


( Read more... )

Joy of the day:  Reading The Tsar of Love and Techno by Anthony Marra.  Tragic, funny, amazing.

 Joy of the day: Going to a tai chi class. I used to do tai chi for many years, and loved the careful, slow, mindful movements, the organic rhythms,  and the way it made my body and mind feel. But when I started yoga again, I let it slide--the teacher then seemed to be losing interest, too. This class is extremely basic, but it's good to get back. ( Read more... )

 Joy of the day: Actually of the night--a very vivid dream of being on a big touring boat on a river near my house (not navigable in daytime reality), sitting with some various students and someone who was important a long, long time ago. We go past so many old ruined Victorian-era houses on the riverbank, partly vine-covered and surrounded by ( Read more... )

 Joy of the day: Since I've been posting these at midday, I'll start including the last half of the previous day. My mornings are generally joyful, but always the same joys, so I need some afternoon and evening variety ( Read more... )