Morning Meditation

I'm sitting in my bed in my house on the Island. I'm still a bit jet-lagged and so I'm waking earlier than usual. Every summer when I first arrive I become reacquainted with the experience of early morning calm, those moments that you often see poets write about when the house is quiet, the sun is newly risen and the day is undemanding. Once I'm time adjusted I guess I'll go back to dragging my sorry ass out of bed groggy and already feeling behind schedule. I've never been a "morning person." But these first summer jet-lagged mornings remind me how much I wish I was. And sitting here in bed gazing at the tree limbs playing with the breeze and the sky turning blue just beyond the walls of my house instills in me a sense of quiet contentment I usually only get after a session of meditation (when I remember to do it).

So that's what I'll write about, I guess. You see I started writing today's blog aware that I hadn't written since I left London and that I wanted to write something, but having no idea what that something might be. But meditation is a good topic. It is something I believe is very important and could be a great help to everyone. It is something I started doing a few years ago and that I did religiously, so to speak, every day no matter where I was in the world, for a couple of years.

I have my little "meditation pack" that I travel with -- a bag with a necklace of beads, a small finger chime, a shawl and a cutout cardboard drawing of my favourite deity, Saraswati -- the goddess of art and creativity (kind of a funny thing for a nice little Jewish girl from New York to carry around with her, but hey -- life is change). But for all this, I have somehow fallen out of the habit. It wasn't a decision to stop. I don't think I even noticed that I stopped. It just recently dawned on me that I was no longer taking the time to do it. More and more things started to take priority, and then time would get away from me and then another day would pass and then....the habit, and the good that came with it, had slipped away.

That's the way it is with good habits, I guess. Daily habits like meditating, writing, telling your family you love them, can so easily be taken for granted and then, before you know it, they and the joy they've brought to your life are gone. At it's best, that is what this Island does for me, gets me thinking these kinds of thoughts, gets me looking at what the year past has provided and what the next year might offer, and gets me up in the early morning. It's really good to be here and believe me, I do know how lucky I am to have this place in my life.

So, as they say over here in America, "have a nice day." My blogging over the next month or so may be sporadic, but don't forget about me. I'll keep checking in when I can.