Pursuit #2: A New Earth

The Pursuit: 
I just finished listening to Eckhart Tolle's book A New Earth: Awakening to your Life's Purpose. Once again, going in I felt skeptical - it seemed uber new-agey, espousing seemingly intangible concepts like enlightenment, awareness, awakening, egoic consciousness, pain bodies, and inner aliveness. (Not to mention the book is read by the author and it reminded me of this funny video my friend shared with me of Werner Herzog reading Where's Waldo?) The premise of the book is to show us how the world today is problematic due to our unhealthy collective consciousness based on the ego and how we can effect a shift in that very same consciousness, an awakening or enlightenment.

"The unchecked striving for more, for endless growth, is a dysfunction and a disease. It is the same dysfunction the cancerous cell manifests, whose only goal is to multiply itself, unaware that it is bringing about its own destruction by destroying the organism of which it is a part." 

Findings: 
Tolle puts his own spin on ancient Buddhist and Taoist principles, like mediation, living in the now, becoming aware of but detaching ourselves from our thoughts, mind-processes, the ego and things.

"Words reduce reality to something the human mind can grasp, which isn’t very much. Language consists of five basic sounds produced by the vocal cords. They are the vowels a, e, i, o, u. The other sounds are consonants produced by air pressure: s, f, g, and so forth. Do you believe some combination of such basic sounds could ever explain who you are, or the ultimate purpose of the universe, or even what a tree or stone is in its depth?"

While nothing really revolutionary was uncovered in this book, I think his point is still valid: that our society would benefit from a profound awakening to a more "enlightened" state. For me this book reiterated the concept of living in the now that I mentioned in the previous post on mediation.

This is an intriguing, multi-faceted topic to explore, and I can't even really do it justice by trying to explain it. It is more a starting block for my own personal inner exploration and how I can simplify my thoughts, mind, life. Sometimes the things we think are important, just aren't. A simple quote sums up things up quite nicely:

"Do you want to know what my secret is? You see, I don't mind what happens." - J. Krishnamurti

Apparently Oprah is a big fan. They have an entire web series together.

Pursuit #1: Live in the NOW

The Pursuit:

Recently I visited the Shambala Meditation Center in DC to learn how to meditate. I wasn't completely convinced that it would really do anything. It seemed so new agey and perhaps a bit esoteric.  But due to curiosity, and after reading about the alleged benefits of the practice and feeling routinely stressed from school or life, I thought how will I know if it works or not if I don't try it?


Findings: 
Meditating is hard. It involves retraining the way we think. I just learned about something in psychology called spreading activation which describes how our brains jump from one thought to another. You start thinking about the laundry you need to get done, which reminds you of that shirt you used to own when you were 12 that you loved, which makes you start thinking about the girl in your 7th grade class who wore funny glasses....and so on and so on. Our thoughts are racing, they get jumbled and we get overwhelmed, stressed or agitated. Rarely do we ever really just live in the now, not let our minds wander and just...be. Seems so simple. If you try to do it though, I guarantee you will struggle, at least at first.

Meditation is mindfulness and awareness.

It "begins by simplifying everything. We sit on the cushion, follow our breath and watch our thoughts. We simplify our whole situation."     - Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche

It seems a little counter-intuitive, but by being still and quiet and becoming fully absorbed in the present moment, we come to realize that life is made up of these present moments and we really can't deal with more than one moment at a time. The past is past. The future is unknown. If we don't allow ourselves to live in the present, we'll miss out on life.

Per Shambala style, you can meditate anywhere and anytime - eyes open, while driving, in your bed, whilst exercising. If my mind is all aflutter or I get frustrated about something, I take a few deep breaths and say the following phrases, which I learned from a Buddhist monk named Thich Nhat Hanh. Inhale with the first phrase, and exhale with the subsequent phrase: 

In, Out
Deep, Slow
Calm, Ease
Smile, Release
Present Moment, Wonderful Moment 

The Pursuit of Happiness

I happened upon a book called The Happiness Project the other day. I haven't read this book. Just the inside jacket. But I like the premise:

"a memoir of the year I spent test-driving the wisdom of the ages, the current scientific studies, and the lessons from popular culture about how to be happy--from Aristotle to Martin Seligman to Thoreau to Oprah"

So today, the kickoff to my 27th year on this earth, I decided will be the beginning of my own happiness project. The author of The Happiness Project has a formula for making her project and even has a toolkit for readers to use in order to make their own happiness projects. However inspired I am by her ideas, I am going to create my own version. But I encourage anyone else to take on a similar feat and maybe, in the words of MJ, we'll "heal the world." Either that or "Beat It." Ok, but seriously. For the next year, my goal is to update this thing once a day with something I found that works for leading a healthier, happier life, not just for me, but for everyone. This is mostly just for my own documentation, but maybe it'll catch on. Ok, ready, set, GO!

Things I ponder most days, these days...

1. Due to the inhospitability of this planet as of late, I am considering real estate options on another planet. Or the moon. Yes, zero gravity beats 98 degree heat and Code Orange air day after day.

2. Sometimes people say they are young at heart. But I am quite sure I am 80 years old at heart.  I fell down the stairs the other day and got whiplash. The geriatric me is just dying to get out.

3. Online class should be spelled b-a-c-k-f-i-r-e. 

4. If you stare at your beloved glass ring you purchased in Spain contemplating its amazing strength and resilience to breaking, it will thank you later that very day by shattering to pieces. Damn you Murphy!

5. I tried not to, but I still love Diet Coke.

6. According to my psychology textbook, they still really don't know what they're talking about with psychology. Can I take my final now?

Glasses

A coworker told me about this awesome website for eyeglasses. Since I have been recruited (not by choice) to the world of eyeglass wearers, I thought I'd spread the word.

The website http://www.warbyparker.com/ will send you up to 5 pairs of glasses without the lenses to try on at home. They'll supply you with a pre-paid envelope to mail them back within 7 days. They'll replace any glasses you don't like, no questions asked. They're affordable. They're stylish (though they follow the trend of thicker and bigger frames, which are oh so hot right now). They will also donate a pair of glasses to someone in need with every pair that you purchase. They are awesome!

These are the ones I bought.

Pretty, witty...and GAY!

Neighbours :: Seattle, WA  My first experience at a gay bar was in Seattle with my BYU roommates. Why might you ask would a couple BYU gals traipse over to the awesomely entertaining 80's party at Neighbours gay disco in Seattle? Why not! Although, I must admit I kinda felt voyeuristic since it was more an observational experience than a participatory one, being all BYU-ey and such. My favorite was the guy who rode up on his bicycle wearing bunny ears and spandex and some bunched up white socks with big white sneakers. He hopped about that dance floor like no other discoteching rabbit I've ever seen. His high kicks rivaled those of the famed BYU Cougarettes. Very impressive.

Hell's Kitchen :: NYC  Sokphal and I accompanied our close friend Devin, who had just recently come out and was curious as were we, to a hip gay bar in hip NYC. The reward for our curiosity? A Lance Bass sighting. Jealous!?!

Gay Pride Parade & Festival :: DC  At the time I had a really short, pixie-cut hairstyle. I had actually been wondering if maybe my haircut would lead me to receive some pick-up attempts or not by any women. But alas, their gaydar went beyond the haircut and no one hit on me. Ashley = 0 points. As Devin and I were walking away from the festival, we passed a couple girls sitting on a bench. Devin overheard their debate as to whether I was gay or not because of my hair. Point Ashley!

Freddie's :: Crystal City, VA  My boss is a DJ on the side. She invited some of us out to see her DJ at this gay bar which was flamingoed to the hilt and very pink and beachy.  While she spun those sick beats, I mingled with some coworker friends. I noticed the crowd there seemed mostly A. female and/or B. older and/or C. transsexual. I waited in the line for the women's restroom at one point. When a transvestite in a hot little white number came out, I went in to find the toilet seat up. Apparently science has not yet figured out how to detransfer that trait in the transgendering process. Back to mingling, and my bf Brian starts bragging to me how he got hit on by some dude - "Oh heyy honey!" - as he was walking through the crowd.  I asked, "Who was it?" He points to a bald overweight guy in the corner table, to which our coworker responds, "Oh! You mean the BLIND guy!?" Turns out he really was blind and said the same lines to everyone he accidentally ran into on the dancefloor.  Maybe next time Bri:(

Prostitutes know their pasta.

Every Friday at work, we have lunch catered for us. Every Thursday, we get an email from the office manager telling us what we can expect to ingest the following day. 

This past week's menu update read: Friday's lunch menu is lasagna, penne with puttanesca sauce, caesar salad, rolls and cannolis for dessert. Having never heard of it before, I figured that this puttanesca sauce must be something exotic and wonderful. Being the curious cat that I am, I decided to look it up. 

The first response that came up from our friend Wikipedia tells me Spaghetti a la Puttanesca  is also known as Whore's Spaghetti...intriguing. Upon further examination, our other friend Merriam-Webster confirms this pasta's whoredom. 

Etymology: Italian, short for alla puttanesca, literally, in the style of a prostitute: served with or being a pungent tomato sauce typically containing olives, garlic, capers, hot peppers and sometimes anchovies.

I'm now slightly concerned. So many questions! Is "pungent" a good thing? Are whores good cooks? ANCHOVIES!?! 

My coworker and I decided that the Italian Mafia must have actually been in charge of naming pasta dishes. Lasagna actually means drug dealer. And cannolis is just a fancy word for bootleggers. You might think twice now next time you order your Linguini Alfredo, or you could wind up mezza morta.

 

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