Author: Meredith

[February 4th] Do you meditate?: Do you meditate (or have a meditative practice of writing code, entering data or answering emails) during your work day? If yes, does mindfulness inform your practice?

I will sometimes meditate during my work day when there’s a moment of peace and quiet, particularly if it’s been hectic that day. If needed, I will actually use a bathroom break as a chance to escape from it all and have a few moments to focus on my breathing. I suppose I also have the meditative practice of listening to music during my commute. I have begun translating mindfulness into my practice of listening to music because I will sometimes sit there with my mind wandering and not even realize what song I just listened to. Sometimes I completely miss something new until a day or even a week after it’s changed, and I tend to feel silly when I discover that some drastic change I just noticed happened prior when I’d been past it several times in between.

My writing is also a form of meditation for me because it really takes on the form or me talking to myself — without the creepy “look at that weird person over there talking to herself” vibe. I highly recommend taking moments to just stop, focus on your breathing, and stop thinking so much about it.

[February 3rd] How to Bring More Mindfulness into Your Life: “Notice any tendency to ‘be hard on yourself,’ or to feel frustrated or a failure. See this kind of judgment as just another kind of thinking, and gently return awareness to the breath.”

As I read the article, I tried to follow along with paying attention to my breath, although I had a very strong urge to start controlling my breathing. I tried to relax more and noticed that I’m actually quite tired (it’s amazing how the mind can fool the body into functioning when the body is in fact worn out). I noticed I was thirsty. I paid attention to the water I drank — the way it felt on my tongue, how it affected my breathing pattern, the sensation of the water flowing down to my stomach. My mind wandered as it usually does whenever I try to meditate. A very good read, and a very good reminder to stop mindless munching, mindless wandering, and mindlessness in general.

I could have sworn I talked about our visiting professor who took me out to lunch back in September or October, but apparently I’m mistaken. Anyhow, we have a lovely visiting professor who hails from Ireland. She collarborates with several professors at UF, and she’s just so pleasant and friendly. She was in the states this week after having gone to a conference in Daytona, and she dropped by to invite me and my boss to lunch again. My boss couldn’t make it, but Professor Wonderful and I made arrangements to go for an early lunch to allow me time to go home and feed the baby in a timely manner.

So, I got to pick where we ate, and I picked Chop Stix Café — a delightful little Pan-Asian restaurant right off of Bivens Arm (a lake). I had never been there before and thought it was an excellent opportunity to try them out. They have a gorgeous view of the lakeside of Bivens Arm, where you see white ibis, ducks, alligators, hawks, and other such wildlife going about their daily business. I chose a bowl of udon (thick Japanese noodles). I absolutely adore pasta and noodles of all types, and I knew I would love udon. I was so right. The udon was prepared lo mein style with tender chunks of chicken, crisp slices of carrots, fresh zucchini chunks, strips of scallions, and slices of onions. It was everything my noodle-loving self had hoped for. To end the meal properly, I ordered a scoop of red bean (azuki) ice cream. I know what you’re thinking — BEAN ice cream?! Yes, in Japan and other asian countries they have different ideas of what constitutes dessert. I, however, have the knowledge that azuki are actually quite sweet. The ice cream? It was delectable! The presentation, the flavor, the color, the texture — everything about it was a foodie’s fantasy. I now wish I had a carton of the stuff. Next time I fully intend to try the green tea (matcha) ice cream.

Today I am so very grateful for good company, good food, and for good fortunes. Of course I still got a fortune cookie! Today’s piece of wisdom: “Minutes are worth more than money. Spend them wisely.”

[February 1st] Night Unplug: Do you unplug and power down your gadgets at night?

I try to power down most of my gadgets, and I went on an unplugging spree nearly a year back. However, I have become much more lax in conserving energy, and I’m not very proud to admit that. Unfortunately I tend to get distracted by myriad other things in life (read: three children keep a woman very, very busy) and simply forget to put vampire electronics in their place. Considering my recent electric bill, I’m very much considering making it a nightly ritual to go around the apartment  unplugging unnecessary devices and equipment to ensure that we’re leaving a smaller carbon foot print and saving valuable money. We need to be more mindful of all the little things that add up in life.

[February 2nd] Last: If today were your last, what would you do right now? What would go straight to first place on your to do list? What would the quality of your attention be?

If today happened to be my last day, I would be hugging my bosses and co-workers good-bye and heading home to be with my family. I would be busy playing dress up with my daughter, taking pictures to preserve the moment for her. I would be cuddling with my precious baby boy, soaking in every bit of his infancy. I would be reading to my oldest son, reminding him that reading is very imporant while reassuring him that academics aren’t the only things that make a person special. I would be holding onto my husband and making sure he knows that everything will work out somehow, letting him know that I’ll be with them in spirit, and trying to find comfort in my last few moments. In the grand scheme of things, that’s what’s most important to me.

Happy Tuesday, everyone! You know what Tuesday means around the department — free lunch. Panera better start paying me compensation for all the advertisement I do (and all the patronism we do here at UF MSE, for that matter) because — you guessed it — we had Panera again this week. (I have encouraged my boss to order Moe’s for next week’s faculty meeting.) And just what lovely goodies do you think I enjoyed? If you guessed a bacon turkey bravo sandwich, some garden salad, a third of a chocolate duet cookie with walnuts, a bag of kettle-cooked chips, and a couple of pickles, then you’ve guessed correctly! Even better than having a free lunch is having leftover sandwichs to carry over into other lunches (or snacks, as is the case for this roast beef sandwich). I am so grateful for the delicious benefits each Tuesday brings.

There’s absolutely nothing like the sense of accomplishment brought on by completing a very tedious task. Today I finished double-checking our mailing list and gave the approval to Alta to print and mail the newsletter. I’m so glad to finally see this little baby go to press, and I’m also relieved that I no longer have to worry about the finer details of it. And now I’m relatively free to focus on the simpler things at work — sorting mail and that sort of thing. I might actually be able to concentrate on some more personal writing.

Here’s a throw-back to my list of five things I’m grateful for:

1. I am grateful for another great batch of doughnuts. I added sugar to the recipe, which was successful. I also experimented with cream filling. Only one of my filled doughnuts pinched closed just right, but I’m sure practice will yield better results. I’m also going to have to experiment with the cream filling recipe, but it worked out well.
2. I am grateful that I’ve got a pot of chicken broth simmer on the stove. It’s so nice to take the scraps of chicken, some carrots, celery, onions, salt, peppercorns, and bay leaves and leave them to simmer on the stove while I’m enjoying some time in the living room with the family.
3. I am grateful for the reasonable night’s sleep I got last night. I managed to stay on my sides instead of rolling onto my back.
4. I am grateful to have a pajama day thanks to the cold front that just passed through. Sure, I played outside in weather like this as a little girl, but that doesn’t mean I feel like bundling everyone up to go outside.
5. I am grateful for a fairly nice weekend.

I’ve gotten behind on my mindfulness posts, so I intend to catch up on them as part of my day of mindfulness. Once I have completed today’s writing, I plan to stay away from the computer as much as possible.

[January 27th] Strong Emotion: When a strong emotion arises, how do you respond?

When a strong emotion arises, I usually get lost within that particular emotion. The stronger an emotion is, it seems harder to avoid becoming trapped into the flow of the emotion. I tend to lose my ability to think rationally and logically, things which are quite important in controlling emotions. When emotions are strong, those moments are the most important moments in which to be rational and logical. I recommend following the link to Thich Nhat Hanh’s breathing exercise on The Mindfulist’s site. We could all use a little training in stopping, breathing, and separate ourselves from our emotions. I for one do not want to be overpowered by my emotions.

[January 28th] It will, it won’t: “Mindfulness is simply being aware of what is happening right now without wishing it were different; enjoying the pleasant without holding on when it changes (which it will); being with the unpleasant without fearing it will always be this way (which it won’t).” – James Baraz

Mr. Baraz, I applaud you. You see, this quote really speaks to me in that I can never seem to be fully in the moment. I believe I actually touched upon this yesterday in my gratitude post (or perhaps that was the day before). In any case, I’m always worried about the past — dwelling on things that I wish had been rather than what really happened, reliving past misfortunes, or even just longing to relive good memories. On the other hand, I also have a very big tendency to daydream about the future and all the hopeful opportunities it could bring. I could spend hours just wasting time dreaming of how it should be instead of living in the moment to actually make things become the way I’d like them to be. As part of my mindfulness practices, I’m trying to train myself to be in the moment.

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[January 31st] Day of Mindfulness: Mindfulness in practice.

On , Gwen Bell shared the ten best posts from January 2010, including a piece by Rebecca Thorman called “Bloggers Are Not Writers.” Her points resonated within me in that I’m guilty of attempting to market myself — really now, look at my sidebar as evidence. PayPerPost? YouData? AdSense? A flippin’ PayPal donate button? Yes, I’m absolutely looking to fund my hobby. Yet I’m trying to become a writer, to transform a simple hobby into a fruitful career. I could ramble on and on about how her words dug into my skin like sharp puppy teeth, but I’m positive you’ll get the point once you read it. It really made me stop and think about how blogging reflects upon my writing as a whole.

I’m grateful that I’ve beaten back my sinus headache. I woke up feeling a lot of pressure in my head, and it’s been hard to get going all day. I’ve been using the FlyLady concept of being able to do anything for 15 minutes. It really is amazing what you can get done in a 15 minute time span. I’ve also been trying to drown my headache with tea and water. I was thinking about trying to make soup, but I’ve let time get the better of me today. I’m grateful for the spices in my cabinet because I’m going to make some spicy chicken for dinner. The spices always help alleviate the pressure and congestion that comes with a sinus headache.

I’m also grateful for amazing graphic effects set to beautiful music.

I’m grateful that it’s Friday. Friday nights are the best and result in the most satisfying sleep. I could sleep poorly and still be satisfied simply knowing I don’t have to rush out of bed in the morning. It’s been a very long week. I’m grateful that this mailing list project I insanely assigned myself should be off my back by Monday. The words and numbers are beginning to run together, the addresses all seem to be completely wrong now, and I’m feeling defeated by the list — even though I’m really on the home stretch. TGIF!