Happy Christmas to All and to All a Goodnight.

I love Christmas.  Seriously love it.   

I'm not mad about the consumerism and the fact that the pace of life seems to speed up in the lead up to it.  And I'm not Christian so for me it's not a religious celebration.  But I just love our own little rituals around it.  Putting up the tree, making Christmas decorations with the kids, planning home made gifts that I never quite get around to making (maybe next year).  

Internet Addicted?

Power Down

So there is no formal classification for internet addiction, since the psychological jury is still out on whether it is an actual disorder or not.  

Not In The Mood

I am so not in the mood today.

Not in the mood for writing.  Not in the mood for anything really.  

I'm fed up, frustrated and grumpy.  

My Luxurious Complaints

So my daughter is earning pocket money now.  She's five, starting school next year so I thought it was time.  Time for her to learn about money, it's worth and the effort it takes to earn it.  Also the pleasure in working hard and saving for something you want and buying it with your own money.

Great Kids Digger Costume Project

We had book week at my daughters kinder a while ago.  

And we had just been going through a mad Pippy Longstocking phase.  Lucky for us.  Super easy.  

My daughter was really keen to go as Pippy, and I planned to dress her little brother as Mr Nilsson, the monkey.  For those of you who don't recall he wears shorts and a hat.  Did I mention super easy?  

Not My Best Week

Not my best week this week.  Nope.  Not my best.

Lots of yelling.  Lots of anger and frustration.  It's really hard to write that down. 

Because it's kind of shaming.  Very humbling.  To admit how horrible I am.

Pleasure Vs Happiness - Is Discomfort The Key?

So a while ago at meditation we discussed happiness on a few different levels.  Like, what is happiness?  How does it differ from pleasure and enjoyment?  What makes us happy?  Should we pursue happiness and if so, how do we do that?

Four Days, Six Revelations, One Heart

The stunning meditation room at Maitripa Contemplation Centre

  

As you know I've been on retreat.

It was a couple of weeks ago now and with a new kinder term and a couple of colds under my belt I'm well and truly back in the "real world".  

Going Back

The gorgeous grounds at Maitripa Contemplative Centre

This week I've returned from my second silent meditation retreat.

I am still processing everything that I got out of the retreat but for now let me share with you the details of the retreat, where it is, how it works.  Because if you can, you must.  

Practicing Gratitude Part 2

Last week I wrote about cultivating gratitude.

The idea of cultivation being that it takes work, it takes energy, it seems sometimes counter to instinct.

But I fear I wasn't frank enough.  I was clear that it's an effort, right?

Practicing Gratitude

Sometimes gratitude does not come easily.  There's a lot to be grateful for and yet sometimes the complaints come way more readliy.

Sometimes it's an effort to shake off the negative perspective and seek out the positive.

And sometimes that effort seems mammoth.

Wheel of Life

So reincarnation has always been a bit of a sticking point between me and Buddhism.

Not that I know that much about it, but whenever it comes up I've always felt a bit...skeptical?

So mostly I've just kind of ignored it.