Writing From the Bones, and other New Year's Resolutions

In mid December, i decided I owed a penance to a growing stack of unread hardcover books in my house.  In 2014, I read an unaccounted, but significant number of ebooks on my iPad's kindle app, while I accrued an impressive list of hardcover books that I wanted to read, on parenting, sustainability, buddhism, and writing;  or felt I should read, on parenting sustainability, buddhism or writing.

So in December I picked up one of these books, The Universe in a Single Atom, by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and decided I would read it before i shifted to less esoteric material.  I also took the time to combine the stack of unread books on my desk, bedside table, and bureau, and now count 18 books purchased in the last few years with every intent to read them, but which are, as of yet, unread.  After finishing that first book, I picked up Writing Down the Bones, by Natalie Goldberg, and decided I would read that in lieu of an electronic something or other.  Best decision I've made all year!  The book is full of writing exercises, which prompted me to pick up a more or less daily writing exercise, but besides that, it is an enjoyable read.

My 2014 new year's resolutions were to write a book in a month (yes, there is a system, yes, people actually do it, no I did not fulfill that resolution).  Another resolution was to begin a 5 minute per day meditation practice, with the goal of expanding as time wore on.  That was a hit or miss resolution - I did establish a meditation practice, but not until June or July, after DH bought me a beautiful meditation cushion (guess I'd been talking about meditation for a while).  So I began meditating, but for 10 minutes a day, and not nearly every day.  I've had fits and spurts of daily meditation, but while I have meditated more in 2014 than I ever have before, there is plenty of room for improvement in 2015.

The thing that I am really excited about, is that in December of 2013, I began the book in a month process, with a 9 month old baby in the house, no less, because I have an idea in my head that I can't let go of.  I progressed on a couple of 'days' worth of process - which was to lay out the overall story line, then the specific scenes in the story - but here is where I got stuck.  The story line was a little stilted, and I couldn't get behind my character's motivations or environment.  The great news is that after I started reading Writing from the Bones and doing some of the writing excercises, some of the loosening exercises, I found my old project and cracked the cover on it.  I re-read the story line and the scenes, and I was able to tweak it enough to get really excited about it.  With a minor plot tweak, I can get behind my character's decisions, which seem much more real, in the new scenario.  I am so excited to get back into it, though here I am on a blog I haven't visited in four and a half years, instead of working on that.  There will be time though.

From my email inbox

I've been sending myself thoughts to post... this is a great idea...

The story: http://www.koinlocal6.com/news/state/story/Gleaners-take-to-fields-amid-recession/W91ICDKmtUah8r1q-jwsaA.cspx

Trash

Wouldn’t it be cool if I could do something about the amount of garbage we produce? (We being me and Chad). We took our garbage out and we have to-go food boxes, paper towels, junk. We compost about 75% of our compostable food scraps – so that’s SOMETHING, but really, we eat a lot of prepackaged foods. New Seasons had a bin at the front of their store for plastic bags – that was cool.

Reforestation effort through tea...

Chad and I bought Guayaki Yerba Mate from New Seasons, in both the bottled and loose tea variety. The company replants the Atlantic Rainforest (South America) and employs indiginous tribes in the process. It's a pretty cool business model (Market Driven Reforestation), and the tea itself is interesting. I prefer the sweeteneed stuff in bottles, but it can get spendy (at least it serves a social mission), so we've been making a french press full of the loose stuff in the mornings, and after my blueberry pancakes this morning, it was halfway enjoyable! ;o)

Put the pan-handlers to work!

I take a 30 minute walk around the neighborhood when I'm feeling particularly spunky. I am amazed at the amount of trash that collects against fence lines. The city doesn't have the money (I assume) but I'd be willing to pony up some cash, and maybe collect it from my neighbors, to fund a neighborhood cleanup. Why not put the homeless to work picking up garbage along the streets? Payment could be in food kitchen vouchers, food coupons, or clothing vouchers (to avoid perpetuating addiction). I'd fund that mission...

Cool article about planting an extra row...

From last week's paper - about those who plant an extra row, and those who use the food...

One positive note. Everyone in my work group goes to coffee every morning. I've been bringing my travel coffee mug for a few months now, and today, my coworker asked about it. He said he's noticed me carrying it with me, that he's heard me talk about sustainability, and that he's going to look for one. When we got back to the office, I sent him a link to the company that makes it (OXO - it's a leakproof stainless steel travel mug). So I'm feeling gratified that he is now thinking about making this one small change in his life. It's all about baby steps...