I Love The Night

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  “It was a glorious night. The moon had sunk, and left the quiet earth alone with the stars. It seemed as if, in the silence and the hush, while we her children slept, they were talking with her, their sister — conversing of mighty mysteries in voices too vast and deep for childish human ears to catch the sound. They awe us, these strange stars, so cold, so clear. We are as children whose small feet have strayed into some dim-lit temple of the god they have been taught to worship but know not; and, standing where the echoing dome spans the long vista of the shadowy light, glance up, half hoping, half afraid to see some awful vision hovering there. And yet it seems so full of comfort and of strength, the night. In its great presence, our small sorrows creep away, ashamed. The day has been so full of fret and care, and our hearts have been so full of evil and of bitter thoughts, and the world has seemed so hard and wrong to us. Then Night, like some great loving mother, gently lays ...

Daily Practice for February

The end of a month is exciting for it represents a time of transition, the chance to review days gone by and make changes for personal growth in the days that lay ahead. The rubric for February looks something like a daily check-list and is presented in no particular order. This will become daily practice for the month until it is mastered . . . if nothing prevents me:

  • ASK: "What would _____ do?" 
"Cherish some man of high character, and keep him ever before your eyes, living as if he were watching you, and ordering all your actions as if he beheld them." (Epicurius)
  • PREPARE: "What could go wrong?" 
Think ahead, plan for contingencies. Don't let yourself be ambushed, taken by surprise.
  • TRAIN: Practice voluntary discomfort. 
Skip a meal, take a cold shower, "forget" your coat. Get out of your comfort zone.

  • RESOLVE: "If nothing prevents me .  . ."
The new "to do" list.
  • AMOR FATI
Accept what is outside your control and love it.
  • PRACTICE
Infuse every opportunity with virtue
  • RELEASE
Let go. Nothing is yours, only borrowed.
  • MINIMALIZE
Don't hoard or acquire what you will not use. Learn to use what you have.
  • FORGIVE
People don't know what they are doing. 
  • BREATHE
Stay calm, buy tranquility.

Daily Practice is the Philosophy

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