January 2012
54 posts
Day 66(C): Don't be Fooled
Over the past two days, I have had a compound lesson in acceptance. First was my unconscious acceptance of the flow of time one day, then there was my conscious acceptance of my past poor choices. This was a huge lesson for me. Although it was a very uncomfortable lesson, I am grateful for the fruits I have harvested from it. The first was the one I wrote about yesterday: witnessing my inner...
Day 66(J): Abounding Gratitude, Peace and Awe
On January 1, 2011, 364 days ago, I wasn’t able to see the path I see behind me now. However, I had an unstoppable aspiration on that day. I longed to find and reclaim my true self and live my life in alignment with the way I was made: no more struggle, strife, and stress from living my life against the way I was made. Moreover, I made a commitment to finding the true way for me to be, do and have...
December 2011
64 posts
Day 65(C): Cosmic Joke
Yesterday I wrote about how liberating acceptance is and how learning to accept poor choices I’ve made in the past allows me to move ahead and make better choices in the future. I also wrote about how I am now able to enjoy the present moment more fully by keeping myself from dwelling on the past:
whatever my choices, when I allow myself to regret and become stressed about the consequences, I...
Day 65(J): Integration as Foundation
This time of the year seems to have its own texture. In particular, the last week of the year between Christmas and the New Year’s day has often had the quality of betwixt and between time for me. In past years, I’d either taken this week off to be with the family after the Christmas holiday, or worked to enjoy “quiet time” at the office where time seemed to slow down magically as the calendar...
Day 64(C): I Accept
Today was one of these days. It wasn’t actually a bad day. I had a great time playing some Mario Kart with my daughters; we ate good, home-cooked meals; and we moved ahead on some Holiday projects. However, as seems to be par for the course for me, I didn’t get to do everything I wanted to.
This morning I realized that today would be the best day for me to run errands and go grocery shopping...
Day 64(J): “Moonlight Sonata”
“Moonlight Sonata”
candle light glowing warming my heart’s core
dancing flame’s familiar beckoning to remember that quiet, silent yet magical moment in long distant memory welcoming me home
from my long lost exile carrying the broken pieces of a celadon jar in my tired hands but with a young heart filled with my childhood hope and love
ready to live again in sweet life’s embrace ...
Day 63(C): Stop "Should-ing" Yourself!
There is a delicious irony in what I have chosen to write about tonight. Earlier today, before lunch, I decided that I would lock myself away and “get today’s post written” so that I wouldn’t have to think about it for the rest of the day, or stay up late tonight to write it. I mediated, looked over old post ideas, looked through some of my photos, and stared at my vision board.
I had nothing.
...
Day 63(J): Beauty, Community and Imaginality
We’ve been home for the most of last week and this week, and I thought we needed a change of pace. Since both Charles and I felt much better today, we ventured out to catch a movie. We chose “The Muppets” for our entertainment at a theater in Seattle. It was a safe bet because I knew the girls would love it as well as Charles. All four of us enjoyed it, and I was grateful that both Charles and I...
Day 62(C): Playday Haiku
Conscious use of time Plus more energy, equalled More play today. Yay!
Day 62(J): A Happy and Healthy New Year!
Within the last 24 hours, I have experienced what I often heard and read about in the past: i.e., how much our bodies and energy levels are affected by Chi, or life force. I think my body finally gave out yesterday, with the aid of a cold virus attacking my already weakened immune system. Both Charles and I barely managed to make meals and clean up afterwards, coughing all the way, while battling...
Day 61(C): Not the Day We Wanted, but the Day We...
As Jung and I were resting in bed this afternoon, I realized that this is the first time we have been sick simultaneously. With our daughters on vacation, it’s been a challenge trying to take care of ourselves, each other, and our children while we’re both sick.
It’s not what we had envisioned for the day after Christmas. We were both looking forward to having more time to play...
Day 61(J): Bad Cold Haiku
Charles and I are both Taken down with a bad cold. We hope to heal soon.
Day 60(C): Charles' Christmas Haiku
Slow Christmas today. Presents, cookies and kimbap: Our new memories.
Day 60(J): Jung's Christmas Haiku
No matter how we Celebrate this day on Earth, We are all ONE LOVE.
Day 59(C): The Fear of What is Yet to Come
Day after day, during this run-up to Christmas, Jung and I kept talking about how we hadn’t watched any Christmas movie, so last night we finally sat down to watch The Muppet Christmas Carol together. Jung and I were taken aback when our daughters told us they weren’t familiar with Dickens’ original story but then we thought maybe this would be a good way to introduce them to it....
Day 59(J): Holiday Blessings
While meditating this morning, I heard my internal voice advising me in her customary warm and loving way:
Have no fear
Living from your heart will serve you well: be COURAGEOUS
Enjoy the season – be merry and joyous
Seeing, creating and experiencing BEAUTY, FRIENDSHIP, and JOY will bring you a lot of returns including VITALITY, ABUNDANCE, and GRATITUDE
When I opened my eyes, so many words...
Day 58(C): Celebration Energy
On Day 50, Jung wrote a little about the power of celebration. She mentioned there that she learned the power of celebration “over time.” What she didn’t mention is that by the time she met me, she had figured it out and then she had to teach me about it.
When I was growing up, celebrations were limited to traditional holidays and birthdays. Doing a good job would merit some praise or an...
Day 58(J): ‘Tis the Season to Enjoy What I Have
Perhaps my daughter J’s cold has rubbed off on me. I’ve been feeling under the weather since yesterday afternoon. I am hoping to shake this bug off as soon as I can to fully enjoy the rest of this holiday season. Notwithstanding this “unwelcomed visitor,” we were able to celebrate the winter solstice last night with a black-and-white cake which I baked with help from Charles and the girls.
...
Day 57(C): Happy Solstice to All, and to All a...
I wish to confess something. I want to change the world. I want my daughters to raise their families in a world different from this one. I dream of a world where differences are celebrated and people co-create for the benefit of all. I dream of a world where Gross National Happiness has replaced Gross National Product in all nations. I dream of a world where individual success is measured by how...
Day 57(J): The Light for Winter Solstice and...
I’ve been getting a one-of-a-kind holiday gift every day. I received a gift of wisdom from Nature yesterday, a gift of valuable role-playing game lessons from my daughters the day before, and a gift of awareness that Life is a constant dance between the opposite cyclical phases. Of course, there is that de-cluttered, clean master bathroom from “Cleaning Fairy” who sprinkled magic dust of...
Day 56(C): I Am the Ambassador of Play
Jung made an observation about me this morning. She had been thinking about my post yesterday, “Music and Merriment,” and she noticed a pattern emerging in some of my posts about my past: whenever I lost touch with play and joy, I lost touch with myself. My quest to create more joy and play isn’t only about having fun in life. Play is my engine and joy is my compass. When I...
Day 56(J): Nature’s Patient Perfect Pace
My fatigue and general lack of energy overwhelmed me today more severely than usual. I felt as if all my achy joints were unwinding and loosening at the same time, and my chi left my body like a wraith slowly rising from the depth of the unknown. I succumbed to crawling into bed in the mid-afternoon.
While resting in bed I couldn’t help asking myself, “Why am I so bone tired? Why do I feel as...
Day 55(C): Music and Merriment
Recently I received a holiday postcard from the Harvard University Band, with whom I spent much of my social time while I was an undergraduate. On the back, they proclaim:
When it comes to music and merriment, the Band continues to be “the best in the business.”
I’m not going to argue whether that statement is accurate or not, but I will say that when I was in the Band, there was easily an...
Day 55(J): RPG Lessons From My Children
Thank goodness, J is feeling much better today! In fact, she has been singing and dancing since our visit to the doctor’s office yesterday as if she never had her headaches although she still hasn’t parted with her box of tissues, and she continues to leave a trail of used tissues behind her despite our pleas, orders, and requests to deposit them in a waste basket rather than on the floor or...
Day 54(C): Parallel Fifths
When I was in elementary school I tried writing songs and music from time to time, but I never really felt good about it. Because I hadn’t received any instruction, I was just going by trial and error and I was generally unhappy with the results. I became frustrated that I didn’t know how to write the music I heard in my head.
In my senior year of high school I decided to give it a shot again....
Day 54(J): Shall We Dance?
I’ve always marveled at my daughters’ general health and been grateful for it. Neither of them has suffered from any chronic health conditions or the food allergies that seem to be surprisingly prevalent these days. At most they’ve caught a cold now and then, and most times they were able to shake it off on their own without a visit to their pediatrician. I affectionately call them our “Super...
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Day 53(C): Get Off The Rails And On With Your Life
Yesterday, our daughter S continued her Dark Sun Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game for Jung, J, and me. Yet again I was amazed at how effortlessly she spun her story. She created compelling characters with clear motivations and even deliberately presented us with a thorny moral dilemma. Jung, J, and I experienced some frustration, though, when we felt that as we discussed our options, S...
Day 53(J): Owner vs. Renter
I was inspired today to clean the counter-top and sink area of the bathroom. That wasn’t exactly what Charles and I discussed at our breakfast table this morning when we were scanning our day and charting what needed to be done. We had two things that we absolutely wanted to make time for: talking with our respective mothers, and writing our posts. Other than these two things, we were going to...
Day 52(C): The Secret Message of the First Draft
I refuse to call myself a “perfectionist.” Besides the fact that Jung and I shun labels for people in our own speech and guide our daughters to avoid using them as well, I also know that I am perfectly capable of declaring my work to be “good enough” when it’s appropriate. This is why, when I first decided to try the Tumblr service, I named my blog, “Done is Good” as a play on the expression,...
Day 52(J): Just Right with a Magic Touch!
While wrapping Christmas gifts to send off to our relatives in the East Coast, Charles said, “I don’t want anything for this holiday. I just want to enjoy what I have.” It was as if he read my mind. I immediately jumped in and said, “Exactly! Me, too.” Then and there we promised to each other that we won’t get any holiday gift for each other; the act of not fussing about finding and getting a...
Day 51(C): It Sounds Fun, But…
In the summer of 2010 Jung heard about the Seattle Composer’s Alliance and the Pacific Northwest Film Scoring Program (PNWFS). At the time I had been getting back to music composition, but I was struggling because I was trying to do it on my own. It had been years since I studied composition, so I felt rusty and unfocused. I entered the PNWFS night course because the class time was convenient...
Day 51(J): Trees As My Teachers
In many ways, the last fifty days really have been about practicing what I read, thought, and wrote about during my off-work hours prior to MyCrownShift. During my corporate employment, a lot of my struggle had to do with how to live a congruent life: once I knew what I knew, felt what I felt, and sensed what I sensed, with respect to what was “right” for me, how could I work and live in a way...
Day 50(C): 50 Days Celebration Haiku
Soul Play Family 50 Days Celebration: Carrot Cake for all!
Day 50(J): Fiftieth Day Celebration
It’s been fifty days since I left corporate employment and Charles and I launched this Soul Play Family 365 Experiment blog. Somehow fifty sounds significant, so I’m making a carrot cake smothered with the girls’ favorite cream cheese icing to celebrate this milestone.
I haven’t always been big on celebration, but over time I learned the power of celebration. By celebrating a momentous event,...
Day 49(C): We Are Community
When Jung and I were walking this morning we had a long discussion about family. One thing we have not implemented yet in our family is a system for chores for our daughters. It’s becoming clear, though, that they need to be participating in some of the regular maintenance of our home environment, such as tidying up and folding laundry. We want them to be taking on more responsibility, and to...
Day 49(J): A Piece of Magic Forest
This year the month of December has gone through a metamorphosis for me. Rather, it might be my own metamorphosis, MyCrownShift, that is affecting the way I experience this holiday season. In either event, I haven’t experienced an out-of-employment holiday season since 1991. For most of the last two decades of employment, December was the busiest month of the year because most business...
Day 48(C): I Am My Own Mentor
I woke up from an unsettling dream this morning. In the dream, it was the end of a workshop I was attending and all the workshop participants sat in boxes arranged in a cluster in the center of the room. I distinctly remember that I was curled up, almost in a fetal position in my box, watching the workshop leader walk past me. I wanted him to talk to me, to acknowledge me, to tell me again how...
Day 48(J): Holiday Gifts to Cure LDS (Laughter...
As I wrote in yesterday’s post, I’ve jettisoned my masks which I used to put on to go to work. They are no longer necessary. No more wearing make-up either, but then I wasn’t a huge fan of make-up even during my corporate career. At some point even before MyCrownShift, I discovered that I felt better when I didn’t wear make-up because, interestingly enough, I felt more confident not wearing it....
Day 47(C): Cascading Calculations
Today was a math-y kind of day. I’m working on the final project for this semester’s film composition class which is to write music synchronized with an imaginary movie scene. We were each given a sheet which describes when particular events happen on-screen, and we were asked to write music which follows those events. This involves some tricky math because the language of film timing (hours,...
Day 47(J): Hello Flow!
The fog settled in thick and heavy again this morning in our neighborhood. In addition to a thick opaque vapor covering the space between the ground and the sky, it was cold enough to freeze the moisture on the ground into a thin icy frost on the asphalt which was dangerously slippery. Charles and I went for our walk all the same in our usual park, although we stayed on the trails to be safe...
Day 46(C): Preparation and Practice are Partners...
Since moving to the Seattle area, we’ve had an annual tradition of going to see ’Twas the Night, a locally-written and produced Christmas musical. It’s a silly and entertaining show featuring an all-ages cast. This year, one of our daughters’ classmates and his mom were in the show so it was extra fun to see them playing the roles that we’ve come to know so well. After the performance, which was...
Day 46(J): Goodbye Sunday Night Blues
Sunday afternoons used to be dreadful. Just the thought of going back to work the next day brought me down. I would get into an irritable, heavy and brooding mood by sundown and then be crushed by the overwhelming inevitability of it all by the time I got to bed. I felt as if I needed to shrink myself again to fit into the box called “Monday morning.” I kept saying to myself, “There has to be a...
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Day 45(C): Roll with It!
When Jung and I began talking with our daughters about their birthday party this year, S and J told us they wanted their party to be a sleepover, and to feature a Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) role-playing game session. At first J volunteered to run the game (to be the “Dungeon Master”) but I thought that as one of the “birthday girls” she should be able to relax and play so it would be...
Day 45(J): Two Apprentices Joined at the Heart
Even when Charles and I were living under our old paradigm, I was well aware that he had as much work to do at home, if not more, as I had to do outside our home to provide for the family. Running a household is a never-ending job: there is always more to be done, and there is never an end to all the chores around the house. Neither Charles nor I is particularly gifted in the areas of...
Day 44(C): Practicing Rhythms
When I sat down with S for her piano lesson today, I checked her lesson book to see when the last lesson was: it was in June, 2010. I couldn’t believe it had been eighteen months! I’m not really sure how the time got away from us so quickly. I could say that “I didn’t have time” to teach, but that wouldn’t be true. I decided that at this point it would be best to let go of any guilt or regret I...
Day 44(J): Fog and Faith
This morning the fog invaded our neighborhood. Thick, white fog was sitting low to the ground, and the visibility was not good. After we dropped the girls off at their school, Charles and I ended up in a nearby park we love for our morning walk. The fog was so thick that we could hardly see twenty feet ahead of us. Everything across the field was covered with a thick, white veil and the usual...
Day 43(C): "I Don't Have Time"
Honesty is a theme which runs throughout much of what Jung and I talk and write about these days. Whether we call honesty out explicitly or talk about it as part of being mature or as part of owning up to our responsibility to transform ourselves, we wouldn’t be able to begin what we are trying to do in our Soul Play Family 365 Experiment if we didn’t try to be as honest as possible in all parts...
Day 43(J): Work as a Way of Being
Work /werk/ n: an opportunity for discovering and shaping; the place where the self meets the world
I am becoming more and more tuned in with myself. I sense things before my mind can cognitively articulate what it is that I sense. I’m feeling more frequently that my mind is too slow or too inept to navigate this new territory I’m navigating. As I rely more frequently on my own intuition and...
Day 42(C): The Meaning of Life
The meaning of life is found in the moments: the bits of now that pass before us like leaves in a stream.
Today was a high-pressure day, and yet I felt no pressure. Because of preparing for my daughters’ birthday, I was not able to work ahead on my composition assignment this week. On top of that, this assignment was a particularly challenging one and I had no idea if I’d be able to finish it...
Day 42(J): Slow Living is In; Slow Living is Cool!
I am enjoying slow living these days. It really feels good and I think I can get used to it. I don’t know how long it will last, or when I’ll be “forced out” of it due to economic necessity, but living in the moment is also part of slow living, so I’m going to enjoy it as long as it lasts. I remember hearing someone say, “Nothing is gained by being anxious. Everything is gained by being...
