Ever fuller integration

As the years have progressed and my blog has continued to do the same, or has at any rate persisted, the deep interconnection between many of the themes that have recurred here has become apparent to me. The relationship between entropy, flux, and contingency, which I fastened onto at the very beginning, remains key. Care of self, loved ones, stuff, and money, risk management, blah blah blah blah blah. For those of you who've been with me for a while, you know what I'm talking about.

But the regular practice of sitting meditation has raised my consciousness of it to a new level. And not, by the way, because I have been able to consistently Commune With Tha One as I sit. I still have monkey brain all the time.

No, it is because I am feeling the muscles in my hip and butt region become incrementally more flexible, and this provides me with a physical reminder of what I am trying to do, throughout the day. Which in turn encourages me to continue best practices: sit ups and push ups, stretch hamstrings for 30 seconds in shower, brush teeth, maintain task list, blog, try to eat less crappy food, etc. It has even helped me get out on the porch and sweep pollen in the evening, or learn to be more patient and mindful in helping Graham learn to study better, or scoop the litter box for Mary.

It has not yet inoculated me to the seductive charms of tuning in to the NBA playoffs in the evening and watching, say, Denver vs Portland for 20 minutes, even though I don't really care. There is always room for improvement.