The Processes of Life, Meditation Growth, & Creating Positive Resources

I’ve gotten into the habit of blogging during the week and taking a break on the weekends. I’m able to have meaningful experiences and then reflect on them later, I think this gives me a more well rounded perspective of what I’ve done and how it affected me. On Saturday I did a Daily Meditation (10 minutes) in the shower after a long hike, and then on Sunday I did Metta 3 (16 minutes) while sunbathing on the Waking Up app. Both left me feeling very euphoric, especially when I practiced it in the shower, it started an upward spiral that lasted me most of the day. I really enjoyed experimenting with different environments for meditation. Today I started my day with a Daily Meditation on the Waking Up app by Sam Harris. Sam Harris discussed the concept of consciousness and asked his listeners to reflect on where they think it comes from. I found this kind of meditation really easy, although in the past it’s been rather difficult. It’s really encouraging to see my progress and feel the effects of it. It snowed yesterday, and the feeling of the approaching holiday season hit me. It felt like the first day of the holiday season. I often feel a lot of nostalgia, comfort, and happiness around this time of year because of all the beautiful memories I’m constantly reminded of. I created a positivity list of everyday things to do to get into the holiday spirit, reduce anxiety, and start upward spirals. I’m going to keep adding to and referring to my list. 

I read a meditation in The Daily Stoic called Always The Same. It referenced Marcus Aurelius and mentioned Ernest Hemingway. This talked about how time continues, and the process of life is always the same. Although for centuries people have felt like this moment in time really is different, this passage reminds its audience that people are doing what they’ve always done, they live. People grow, make errors, laugh, cry, fall in love, die, and the next generation succeeds the last, doing the same thing. To know that we are only brief one moment in time helps me appreciate the moment and better understand my place in the universe. It puts things into perspective, and makes me less worried about the current state of the world because life will continue just like it always does.