Tag Archives: Living Chapters

December reflections

In December there will not be a chapter submitted on the first of this month. I think that there should be a way of marking the halfway point in the Living Chapters project. An intermission or reflection period seems to be the best way to do so. The last month of the year is as good as any to take a moment and look back on what has actually happened during this past six months. Where did I start at the beginning of this project? Where did I start at the beginning of 2013 and where am I now at the end of 2013? What have these “Living Chapters” taught me thus far? What do I hope 2014 will bring?

Instead of running with a new chapter this month, I think it would be wise to take some time to let the lessons and adventures of the past six chapters sink in and ask a few questions. I want to start the second half of this story in the new-year with a fresh outlook and new knowledge. Let’s see if I can use the collective guidance from the past six months to help me make some of the life decisions I will be making in the next four weeks (without directives from a chapter writer) This is the month of the year that I am allowing myself to make my own new year’s resolutions and reflections.

Chapters will resume as usual on the first of January 2014. I will return to each theme explored in this past six months with new writers, new wild cards and in a new location. If you are not too busy hibernating or holidaying this December please check in here this month for a few protagonist reflections as well as other Living Chapters players. I am also accepting guest posts about the project overall. Please contact me if you would like to share your ideas or thoughts about the process thus far. I welcome and will post questions, observations or comments that Living Chapters readers may have.

Thanks for reading,

Beth Barbush

12/1

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protagonist parting words

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So at the end of this month of searching for meaning and purpose, I find myself in Spruce Pine, NC at the end of a mission to visit two very important people. I first stopped in Richmond, VA to see my cousin Dena and her family in and then wandered further up into the mountains to track down this month’s chapter writer Emily Wheat.

I could spend a whole month highlighting all the wonderful making and creating that these two have done in their lives but will simply share these few examples as highlights from these two special birds.

Emily Wheat’s amazing bird costume. “What kind of bird are YOU?”

Both Dena and Emily have played a large role guiding me and helping me to understand what my purpose is and how to articulate it.

For my last creation of the month, I decided to make something for Emily. I call it the “hunt for meaning”. This is not an object but more of a journey or scavenger hunt in which Emily will be led to random places around the state of North Carolina to find hidden objects and messages. I won’t say too much about it here as I would like to leave the adventure a surprise to her. But I think it was while finishing this last act of making for the month when it became clear what my purpose may be. It simply comes down to two things.

As noted in the very first post of this chapter, my meaning is found in the process of making (or the doing) itself coupled with a specific intention behind the making.

Although, I have spent my life enjoying materials and treasuring artworks and objects large and small, I now find I am drawn not to making these treasures but to developing places, spaces, opportunities, and connections for others to create, care and share their own experiences and talents. That created living shared space or place is the making I want to do or the purpose that I want to pursue.

After making and sending treasures this month, everything from a written letter out of Necco wafers to a headdress out of popcorn to a sea monster scuba mask puppet, I have returned to some conclusions that I think I have been enacting all along.

1. The meaning IS in the making. There is no meaning or purpose without the act of making or doing itself. I must continue to engage, play, glue, cut, write, color, photograph, dig, cook, reflect, and connect to continue living fully.

Miss Emily Wheat has set a great example for me and has reflected this fact back to me every day that I have known her.

2. Set your intentions. Reflect what you are. Deciding why I do something and for what purpose seems to lead me closer to where I want to be. By setting an intention I can also set an example for others to find what their intentions are. This somehow feels more important to me than the made object itself and feeds my motivation to continue to create, care, and share.

My cousin Dena has been a great inspiration and example in learning this.

As today, October 31, is a special day for tricks and treats – I am going to stop making for a moment and celebrate this beloved holiday with some wind, witches, walking in the woods , and WHEATIE of course!!

I will leave you with a short message that I left for Wheatie in “the hunt for meaning” and two songs sent to me by the Living Chapters maestro this month that were more than helpful in my own search for purpose.

“There just is no rhyme nor reason – On any day or in any season – To be searching out purpose and/or meaning – When all we need is found in gleaning” – The Hunt for meaning 10/30/13

The meaning is in the making:

Reflect what you are:

10/31/13

Check out images of the adventures creations made this month on the Chapter 5 Gallery or on the Living Chapters Facebook Page

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October Creations

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Before this month of making and creating is over, I would like to take the opportunity to share some amazing creations made by the Living Chapters players. I have been lucky enough to be surrounded by incredibly talented and creative individuals my whole life. I am constantly inspired, motivated and supported by them. This post features work from the participants who have helped make Living Chapters what it is.

The featured drawing here is from chapter writer Amy Rothstein. For me this drawing embodies my own feelings about the act of making and creating. I feel it can be a vulnerable, scary, yet sometimes empowering experience. We give life to an idea, or seed – caring for it and seeing it through to its existence and then let it go. It is a process we all engage in, in some way. In this post I want to honor those around me who take on this challenge in their daily lives.

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Chapter 5 Wild Card: Doug Sadler

In addition to being a great writer and an award-winning film maker, this month’s Wild Card, Doug Sadler, is the creative director for The Pocket Media Group. PMG represents a uniquely flexible model for creative promotion through the development of original multi-media content. Take a peak here to see how PMG’s creative thinking can help promote and connect people to products and ideas.

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Chapter 4 Writer: Amy Rothstein

This October, Amy has been busy making new artistic works. Below are a few examples: Of her work she says “I make my art to make peace with what I cannot know or understand.”

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Chapter 4 Wild Cards: Agnes and Grace Lichtner

This October Agnes has been creating costumes and treats for the season. Check out her “Olive Oil” costume above and her creepy and gross party snacks of chocolate mice and turds! Her daughter Grace has been busy making new friends by making friendship bracelets.

Outside of Agnes’s festive and creepy creations, She has been developing EYE-C (Enhance Your Existence Center) A life nurturing network that offers information about educational and experiential opportunities for developing and enhancing your limitless potential for healthy living. If you are interested in learning about holistic and healing arts visit her emerging collaborative organization here.

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Chapter 3 Writer: Andy Cook

You may have learned a bit about Andy’s passions for environmental issues through the “Cap and Trade” challenges he posed in chapter 3 of Living Chapters this past summer. Please take a peak at his new web series “Greater Yield” to see how Andy is using his creative talents to educate and inform larger audiences about these issues.

Greater Yield is a web series for CoLab Radio aimed at exploring the myriad benefits of urban agriculture in cities throughout the U.S. Using video, photography, and writing, the series highlights urban agriculture projects that are tackling challenges as diverse as public education, neighborhood revitalization, green job growth, and public health. The series also includes perspectives from multiple experts in each subject, to give a holistic sense of how urban agriculture is changing life in our cities beyond simply how we eat.

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Living Chapters Project Manager: Moira Fratantuono

When Moira is not organizing or creating spaces for others to be creative and make connections, she is working on independent creative projects of her own. She recently started to work on a series of photos/essays that explores themes of identity for first and second-generation Americans.

The goals of her latest exploration “Dual Identities” are to move past sterilized political debates over immigration. The project focuses on the personal experiences of individuals whose citizenship redefines what it means to be “American”.

Moira is currently working on developing content for a blog that will feature a new story each week. She is now looking for participants to be interviewed as a part of this project. Are you someone who could represent the immigrant experience? If you would like to participate or know someone who would, please contact Moira through the Living Chapters Facebook page or Livingchapters@gmail.com!

You can view more of the here: Dual Identities.

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I thank all of the Living Chapters participants for sharing their works of creation this month. If you have any questions about any of these projects or want to get involved please do not hesitate to contact them through me here on the Living Chapters blog.

10/27/13

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October: Wild Card

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It’s a sunny October day in New York city – delightful, peaceful, remarkably warm … but Beth Barbush is in my brain! She’s filling the space with a swirl of ideas, an inspiring sense of possibility and idealism, frenetic, infectious creativity and a kooky sense of humor. But why is she in my head, what is her purpose, and by extension, what is mine? Man, October seemed so far away when I signed up for this!

Okay, purpose and meaning … big ideas, big questions … all Barbush. Seeking safety in words, I pull out the dictionary (an actual paper one):

Purpose –n.

1) an object to be attained; a thing intended

2) the intention to act

3) the reason for which something is done or made.

Ah, ‘the reason for which something is done or made’! I was struck by the elegance and simplicity of the chapter Emily Wheat wrote for Beth this month, including as it did contemplation (a walk in the woods), joy (treasure a day) and a core focus on creativity and giving (create something every day). But two weeks in, I think some deeper exploration of the ‘the reason for which something is done or made’ is in order. Not to justify or question the making or the giving, but to open a door to understanding the purpose behind making, giving and inspiring. And perhaps a touch of asking and receiving is in order too.

At the risk of annoying with a detour, let me share just a bit about what I’ve learned, first as an actor and later as a writer about the power that comes from distilling purpose to a sentence. (And yes, for those wishing I’d just get to the list of assignments already, this is one of them). In acting there is the objective (what I want now, moment to moment) and the super-objective (what I want in life / my purpose). In writing, these same ideas are applied to character creation and the purpose and meaning of the story as a whole, often as premise and theme. In story, the more active, idealistic and potentially unachievable the super-objective of a character, the more intensely the character will come alive and the more magnetic witnessing their seeking becomes – we love dreamers and strivers after all. And, Beth, since you are a dreamer and striver and have cast yourself – literally as The Protaganist – and ‘hired’ (well, you know) writers to write your life script, I want you to engage with the tools and techniques of character and drama to define your purpose. And I’m including an exercise to build asking and receiving to your repertoire in addition to giving. Without further adieu, here’s the wildcard:

1) Define your purpose (in the moment objective) in giving the gifts you make this month to the people you give them to. A sentence or better, a word or two. Include it with each gift. These can be fun, individual, whimsical.

2) Define your life purpose (life goal / super-objective). Start with a paragraph, get it down to a sentence and ultimately to a few words that ring true … once you’ve arrived consider sharing it to reinforce it, give it power, perhaps as a signature on gifts you give this month, perhaps in other ways …

3) Ask and receive – It’s easy for artists and creatives to avoid asking for or receiving the help and support they need, whether financial or otherwise. So, as you focus your life purpose, understand that to live up to that possibility you need and deserve support and to get it you must ask for it. So, this month step out of your comfort zone and ask at least one person or entity for assistance / a gift to forward your purpose. It can be in any life direction – career, personal, whatever, but think big – this should not be small and it should be scary.

So, there you have it Beth. I think I’m within the bounds of wild card to include all this, but if not, well, call the referee, fire me, cancel my check etc. Oh and when you do #3, I will buy you a beer so you can tell me how and where you’re reaching out and up …

Doug

10/16

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making confessions

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I have been fortunate to experience a certain sense of freedom since I left my last permanent home in Baltimore. I’ve felt more spontaneous, without boundaries and literally lighter on my feet. I have moved about 8 times in less than 3 years living a low maintenance, low stress life style. Bringing with me only the bare minimum, I have freed myself from excess belongings to weigh me down. Well… all this sounds lovely, but it’s not entirely true. My confession is this, I still own a ton of STUFF just like everybody else. My life as a free-spirited gypsy is a sham.

Sure – my spirit might be free of a home and mortgage payments, but it sure isn’t free from stuff – I do own have belongings: they have all been living in the basement of my old apartment just waiting for me to come home. I have never really signed the divorce papers with my stuff, we’ve only been separated, living apart these past few years.

In my last post, I talked about my love of making things, as well as collecting them. I even referred to this love as a borderline addiction. Well let’s just come clean, it’s not borderline – it’s actually a full on addiction, or shall I say unhealthy relationship? One that has been on again off again for years now but I keep coming back to. We may have been on the outs for a few years now, but secretly I am still in love.

So while I am making confessions, I will also tell you that I recently starting seeing my stuff again, this past July. I visited my storage space searching for bits and pieces of my past to organize, scan, and document in preparation for creating my online portfolio. Upon returning to the storage space, I felt conflicted: Oh how I missed my stuff. We were so happy together– why had I left it all behind?

Looking back on the old days, my stuff and I had a great history together. Each object holding another story from a past chapter. How could I possibly give these objects up? Revisiting the memories felt overwhelming – reliving my past but also pondering a future that we could have together. Just think of what a beautiful place I might have one day with all this stuff in it!

“I should keep this futon for a home someday right? Yeah maybe for the same house that I will actually put up all 60 of these framed photographs that I made for exhibitions?”

“I remember eating off of this Raggedy Ann and Andy plate when I was 6 (30 years ago!). Hmmm…will I still be eating off of this plate in another 30 years?”

Sometimes I get lost for hours in the basement, just thinking about the past and the future. But there just doesn’t seem to be any place, space, or time for these artifacts in my current life. As much as I cherish them all, I am finding that figuring out what to do with this stuff is slowing me down and stressing me out. If I dragged the 10 boxes of my favorite books with me aboard the boat it would sink! And I have gotten really use to not wanting or needing excess things in my living space. It’s time to pare down, break up, kick the habit!

You may ask, “what is all this stuff that you keep?” and “do you really need it?” Being someone who has always felt the need to make and create, I hold on to different kinds of objects. I have very little that is valuable in a monetary way – no electronics, not much furniture and very few household items.

If you had to divide my belongings up they would live in these three territories: the land of “past creations”, the land of “future creations”, and land of “stuff I don’t want to buy again if I shall ever need it”. The land of past and future creations is currently taking up about 75% of my storage space. The rest is slowly being given away to friends who need and want the other objects.

Land of past creations

these are just a few examples of the random things that I’ve created and held onto over the years. How could I give up the wire and ribbon purse I made as a teenager or the suitcase photo book I made from my travels in Spain and Ireland and of course that paper explosion thing – that’s just too weird to get rid of right?

Land of future creations

Just a few examples of the materials that call me to creation but have been neglected, getting musty in my former basement. I can’t seem to part with the pretty paper, Halloween yarn, fabric collected from foreign countries and tiny faux golden beads – just think what COULD be made from them!

It’s finally time to free myself of the stuff. It’s my own personal challenge that I inserted myself somewhere back in Chapter 3 – when I started tracking how consumptive we all are and how every object in our lives leaves an impact on our environment. I really like the idea of having less and using less. Now the challenge is to see if I can live up to this “idea” that I like.

This leads me to confession #2. In my quest to rid myself of stuff, I feel very conflicted being asked to create new stuff every day for an entire month! At first there was great excitement… create and make every day! How refreshing, I have missed this hands on creative part of my life. Making things has always been therapeutic. What I have not missed though is the confusion of what to do with these objects once they are made. Thank goodness Wheatie built into the chapter that I would then send off these creations to others – they would then have to decide what to do with these creations not I.

So today besides making confessions, I would like to make a proposition and make a deal.

The proposition is this: I propose the continuation of creating and sharing creations daily this month. I don’t want to give up my love affair of “the making” but its time to break my addiction to “the collecting” and let go of the attachment to the made objects themselves. Is this possible?

I propose adding to Wheatie’s chapter, by challenging myself to make things this month that can be experienced, used, eaten, heard, read, played or passed on easily. Can I lighten my own storage load and not weigh down someone else with my new creations? Can I continue my love of the making while breaking my habit of collecting? Can these creations live somewhere other than my old basement or in someone else’s basement?

Can you help me with these goals? Will you join me in the making, creating and sharing? Will you help me break up with my stuff for good, make my load a little lighter? Calling all makers and creators.. will you help me part with the lost objects in the land of creations and in the land of future creations?

Let’s Make a Deal: I will be posting pictures of my stuff (things that I have made and things that are waiting to be made) on the Living Chapters Facebook page this month. If you like it, let it be known – post your request here on the blog or on Facebook. Tell me what you want to make using the object or what kind of home my creation will have. If you have a convincing story or an interesting enough trade the object is yours. I will also be posting pictures of my daily creations. Please take a peak and let me know what you think and any ideas you may have for new creations.

10/7/13

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chapter five

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Purpose and Meaning

I am constantly driven to find meaning and purpose in each step I take on this path called life. Many of the choices I have made revolve around the work that I do and building a career. I have recently followed a new life path, one influenced by work, but driven by the desire to live a deeply fulfilling, well-rounded life. I have finally allowed my need to live a more balanced life outweigh my desire to continue on a certain career path.

Beth, you too spend a great deal of time contemplating your choices and the way they direct your life’s path, always letting your intuition be your guide. I always know that when I call you to discuss a change that I need to make you will be encouraging, no matter how strange and scary it might seem. I can hear you now, “Wheatie, trust yourself. You already know what the right decision is.” Your path has also been somewhat directed by the work that you do. I am interested to see how this year of letting other people direct your life will impact the way that you make decisions in your future.

When considering my own purpose I find that much of my life is centered around my interactions with other people. As a teacher I am constantly fueled by what I learn from the students I work with as well as challenging them to think and create in new ways. I also choose to surround myself with a community of people that challenge me and help me grow. I think that our initial bond was created through our similar desire to learn from the people around us. Interacting with people on such a deep level pushes us to grow but can also hinder us if not balanced with time alone to reflect on knowledge gained.

The challenges I purpose for this month are about finding balance.

Part 1: A Walk in the Woods

I want you to start off this month by going on a hike. It can be as long as you desire but you must be alone and in the woods. The combination of the physical act of moving, spending time alone and being surrounded by the beauty of nature always helps me clear my head and focus my energy.

Let your brain clear out any issues that might be blocking your ability to bask in the experiences and interactions that have come out of the past couple months and consider what you have learned/what you have been reminded of while participating in the challenges of the Living Chapters. How has this knowledge impacted your sense or purpose and meaning?

Part 2: A Treasure a Day

The second part of my challenge for you this month, BB, is to create! I want you to spend this month using your creative energies to make something new every day. I also want you to share those creations with the people in your life that have impacted your sense purpose.

Here are the guidelines:

1. Make something every day.

This something can be as large or as small as you desire. I know that you may or may not have all the usual items that would be at your disposal in other living situations aka your basement in Remington, so I am sending you a package of goods that might help you through this challenge. Also, remember to use your master skills in the art of collecting to find items that may help your creative process.

2. Send or deliver the creations that you have made to people who have or continue to make an impact on your life.

You do not have to send/deliver an item every day and you may send/deliver more than one item to the same person if you choose, but you must be intentional in your decisions during this part of the process. Let your intention be fueled by your intuition, letting yourself naturally come to conclusions about who must receive which items and when.

I loved your quote from last month’s chapter… “Instead of figuring out a direct plan for my future, what I want to do is hone the skills that will help me arrive at it organically.” Use this practice in following your intuition through the creative process to fuel your ability to listen to your intuition in the next phases of your life.

3. Have fun!

Let this challenge be joyous and not tedious. If you aren’t feeling the project you are working on one day ditch it and start a new one. It will be more enjoyable if you are listening to yourself, especially if you are feeling that it is time for a break or to switch directions.

Note: This challenge does not include October 31^st. That day is reserved for tricks and treats.

10/1/2013

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protagonist parting words

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This month Amy, Agnes and Grace challenged me to be mindful and aware of my thoughts, my body, my feelings, and the passing time that holds them all together.

I found great benefits in the exploration of meditation, silence, stillness as well as silliness this month. Even though I feel as though I’ve merely scratched the surface in this exploration, I’ve noticed that what I have put into practice this month really has helped me to let go a bit more, relax into my resistance and disentangle from the situations in which I can not control. I also learned that looking directly at my discomfort or resistance has lead to greater clarity and comfort.

I will keep my parting words brief and leave you with the above lessons I’ve learned as well as a few of the same questions that we started with to ponder. I don’t suspect these questions will ever really be answered with any amount of reflection and meditation. I kind of hope that they stay unanswered. I have enjoyed indulging in this exploration and hope to continue to do so in each future chapter to come.

What is happiness? Is it something we can find or do we create it ourselves? How long can it last?

How do we balance the act of leading and planning our lives while allowing them to unfold?

Can darkness pain and resistance lead to clarity peace and understanding?

What can our physical realities teach us about our existential existence?

As long we are all making it through our existential crises day-to-day, I think we’re all doing ok! Be here now.

9/30/13

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take a moment, tune in!

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I want to take a moment before this introspective month fades into the fifth chapter to stop and reflect briefly upon what is happening at this quarter mark through this “Living Chapters” challenge year. Last week, I was given a great opportunity to do just that.

I was invited to speak with Aaron Henkin, Baltimore radio producer host of WYPR’s “The Signal” 88.1 fm about my experiences living out these chapters month to month. It was actually the first time I really spoke to someone publicly about about my personal experiences and feelings about the overall process.

I really enjoyed my time in the studio with Aaron and feel flattered and privileged that there is such interest in the idea itself. The thing that excited me most about the whole process though, was the fact that Aaron went out of his way to interview many of the amazing “Living Chapters” players who have made this project not only possible but also very meaningful. One of my main goals in creating this project was to bring together and highlight the incredible people in my life that I care about. I thank Aaron for interviewing some of them and giving them a candid chance to share their thoughts and ideas about the process thus far.

On a side note, I am very glad the interview wasn’t scheduled on a “Day of Silence”. Strangely enough, the last time I was on “The Signal” was back in 2010 when I was invited to talk about a project I was working on called “Speaking of Silence”. I have been referring back to and thinking a lot of the work I did then a lot throughout this month.

Listen here for that interview.

If you are in the listening area this week, take a moment and tune in to WYPR 88.1 on Friday September 27th at 7pm or Saturday September 28th at 3pm. Otherwise check in on the podcast here. Thanks for listening.

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day of silence

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On my first day of silence last Wednesday, I opened up the hatches on the boat letting the crisp fall air and sun come in. It was a perfect way to start a “Day of silence” 5 minutes after settling into my morning meditation, I was startled and distracted by unknown voices outside on the dock. I glanced over and noticed 2 men standing a mere 15 feet from my meditation cushions. “Did they see me sitting here cross-legged with my plastic mustache meditation glasses on?” I realized that even if they did, there would be no way that I could explain myself at this point to them – it was a “Day of Silence” and I could not speak. I closed my eyes and sunk into the silence.

As a part of the Wild Card suggestion this month, I was given the challenge of taking one “day of silence” each week. When I heard this suggestion, I made an audible sigh of relief – what a pleasure and opportunity that would be.

The concept of what silence is and what it can bring to individuals has always interested me. I actually spent over 2 years creating audio pieces and photographic portraits exploring the role that silence has played in our lives. The project was called “Speaking of Silence”. Through that exploration, I interviewed nearly 100 people, listened and learned about what silence meant to and for those individuals. During those 2 plus years of examining the concept, I do not think I ever spent one full day being completely silent myself. I thank Amy this month for asking me to explore what the concept means for myself in meditation practice and I thank Agnes for pushing it a bit further.

Each mediation session this month itself has been training in a way for these extended periods of silence. Practicing meditation has allowed me to create a silent space for my thoughts and feelings. I’ve used this space to focus on the present moment, becoming aware of the time itself between my thoughts, actions, and speech patterns. This process has been great to do alone – it has helped me become more still and slower – not in work or my daily activities but in my reactions to others and my environment. Giving me the time to really observe and respond accordingly. I am finding that taking the time to be silent even outside of meditation practice is helping with this as well. So throughout the month even on “non days of silence” I am making time each day to be silent. (organizing, walking, writing, observing others)

But what would happen if I brought my silence out into the world? What would a normal day be like with the added silence? How would others react? How would it make me feel to not be able to communicate easily? This week Amy asked me to delve into how I felt in my body, alone and in social situations. I am taking my days of silence to experiment with what it feels like to hold the space in a busy coffee shop, in a grocery store, down town and in conversations with friends.

Below are some of the highlights of my first speechless days. I will say I was not completely successful in not speaking or uttering a sound entirely, I did said “SORRY” involuntarily when I bumped into someone by mistake and I made some exclamations to myself during the day – once when I accidentally hit the curb parallel parking “Yikes!” also at one point I found myself whistling. And even though I gave up my phone I did not give up technology or communicating all together. I was lucky enough to schedule 2 meeting free and telephone free days but I did still need to send emails for work.

Enhanced experiences:

Organizing/cleaning – I am more focused and more efficient

Emailing/working: I am more efficient when I am not taking phone calls

Writing: I am taking more time to write what I feel rather than worrying about what the words sound like together.

Walking: I have been walking alone and without excess sounds, music or calls. I have enjoyed the physical environment more.

New experiences:

Communicating: I mostly communicate through written notes in a small book and on post it notes. I sometimes “mouth” words as well or “mime” an action. I did this while doing errands and grocery shopping. When people noticed that I was not speaking they treated me differently – they started speaking really quietly and also slowly? Hmmm… because I was silent I guess that meant I was also unable to understand or hear them? Some people wanted to write return notes to me rather than say anything out loud. One lady decided that I was deaf and started signing to me in sign language – I shrugged my shoulders not being able to tell her I didn’t understand sign language and just pointed at my shirt that stated “Day of Silence”. She continued signing to me.

Body motions: I noticed myself using my hands to talk (even more so than usual) I gave the “thumbs up” and “ok” sign so many times that I started to feel like a cartoon character. I also felt strangely like a mime when I realized that not only was I silent but my “Day of Silence” T-shirt was black and white.

I noticed myself smiling A LOT. I really did not want to appear rude or as if I was offended by anything the other person said by not speaking to them.

Strange occurrences and/or observations:

I got into a note conversation with the old man in a coffee shop – he spoke to me in riddles and I tried to answer him in written pictures – I am not sure who was more confused or amused in that interaction.
I started a race with a 2-year-old in the park who seemed to understand my silence more than his parents.
I had a telekinetic interaction with a squirrel.
I did not miss phone conversations one bit.
I realized how silent we are already in our communication with eachother
While observing my own communications – I realized I am more connected online through my writing, emails, and texts almost more so than my face-to-face meetings? I am more honest and open in my writing than my face-to-face conversations.
I appreciate the time in between the responses of written notes, text messages or emails.
I tried to help a guy with a mustang charge the dead battery in his car. I could not convince him that he had connected the cables incorrectly. I am not sure if he didn’t want to “listen” to me because I was writing him notes or because I was a girl?
I got into the best conversation I have ever had about “truth, loyalty, and acceptance” with a barista. The entire conversation took place on post-it notes.
I am good at playing charades – I can now order breakfast in charades.

I am thinking of instituting this “Day of Silence” at least once a month for the rest of the year, if can not schedule weekly sessions as I move forward. I can not tell you how many benefits are coming from this experiment. I can not tell you today anyway, I am still learning. But I will try talk to you about it tomorrow! Please share your silent experiences with me.

9/25/13

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The Body

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Chapter 4; Week 4

One of the core agreements of existentialism is that being human means we will experience anxiety. There are countless sources of anxiety, but comfort seems to be its opposite. To access feelings of comfort when we would normally be anxious seems to be a truly lofty goal. For the last week I’d like us to look at how we access and experience comfort and discomfort in our bodies out-and-about in the world.

Assignment #1: I urge Beth to be mindful of her breath, body/extremities, movements and actions this week. Try to remain aware of your breath, your body, movements, and actions throughout the days this week.

Start after your morning meditation at home with some mundane tasks like cleaning or making your bed.
Work towards doing this in public, while you’re in groups and in social situations.
Identify how your body reacts to stress or anxiety. Start to observe your body in different situations and emotional states.

Assignment #2: Come to New York City for some isolation! Beth is coming to visit me in New York. On Saturday, Sept. 28^th we both have separate 60-minute appointments in the floatation isolation chamber at Blue Light Floatation. For more information on what the heck that is and what to expect, visit the Blue Light website here: http://www.bluelightfloatation.com/floatation.html

Here are some pre-float prep notes:

Don’t be on a coffee buzz the day of the float.
Don’t drink too much water.
Get good sleep the night before.

A skeptical Blue Light Floater documented her visit on this blog. http://www.theawl.com/2012/10/new-yorks-last-sensory-deprivation-tank The post goes into great detail about what to expect when you go to Blue Light for a float. What you choose to think about (or not) inside the floatation chamber is up to you. See you this weekend, Beth!

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