Stay-cation

Hmm, my first post in the Best of '09 Challenge was a week ago, and I've managed to post every day so far. Mini-success! I'm glad for such an inspiring Challenge to keep me writing.

December 8 Moment of peace. An hour or a day or a week of solitude. What was the quality of your breath? The state of your mind? How did you get there?

I've had brief moments of peace during attempts to meditate, ones where every care seems to melt away and I feel connected to the source of life & all of existence. These moments are few and far between for me. Probably because I don't try hard or often enough, or when I really need to feel that peace. But I did have a week of near-solitude the very first week of this past January - well, I had a week off from work, ie my day job. Not a vacation, rushing from place to place, more of a "stay-cation". I took the week solely to recoup myself mentally and to have time devoted to working on my artwork.

I got up every day when I was ready, not to rush off to someplace I'd rather not be, but to approach my artwork and meet myself really - to say, what is it that I can do, is this what would make me happy? There answered from within a resounding yes, I could do what means something to me, would be free, would lose the tension I carry with me every day, could be myself. This is when I made the mental switch to thinking of my job as a day job, preparing myself for a time when I can do what I love for a living. The time hasn't come yet, but I relished the taste I got of such a time during that week.