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Daily writing practice

2021/7/9 Early bed time means I get tired at the right time. There seems to be a point at about 9:30 after which I, and I assume most people, will be more alert and interested in doing things other than going to sleep. It's not easy to have such an early bed time, it interferes with social priorities. I'm sure that I might be better off and more productive as well as more connected if I do the early thing. It depends on your network and their schedules. I should really do myself a favor and not leave things that I must finish that day until almost bedtime. It makes the quality of the work suffer and it makes the joy of the work shrink.

2021/7/8 Free, just laying there on the street. Very convenient when the thing you thought you might have to buy shows up that way. I'd just as soon get something I need used from someone else and if it's free, all the better. But free has its drawbacks. It isn't that nothing of you goes into something that is free. No money, sure, but time and energy, and then space too is taken by these items. If it isn't something I really need I do my best to ignore it. Sometimes that isn't easy, it might be pretty, or strange, or just super useful looking. I'm getting better over time. The big issue is that so much of the stuff I got for free and didn't think I needed turned out to be super essential in my life later. The best example is the earmuffs. They are sound protection earmuffs that I didn't think I really needed but had thought would be a nice thing to try out sometime. I use them for so many things. Vacuuming or anything noisy, riding on public transit and meditating, meditating at home when there's noise, releasing the steam from my pressure cooker. But some things just end up unused. Their junk designation remaining true. I'm hard-pressed to come up with an example. I just went looking through my closet for something and other than a few games I haven't played yet there's really nothing I've never used, but a lot of it does only have a use on a very rare occasion. Perhaps it would be no big loss if I didn't have those things. I'll have to convince myself I'll be better off without them, one by one, so that I can live simpler and freer.

2021/7/7 #poetry When the wind takes me up, in a sudden rush, I become lighter, freed of my musings and rambles inside, alert to the feelings in my body, the sounds around me, the cold or heat, and the motion of the surroundings. There's no way to ignore it. There's no way to be left unchanged. The wind is a taker of dreams and other falsehoods. The wind is a bringer of harsh reality. Whooochhhsshhhhhhhh

2021/7/6 #poetry What a joy it is to maintain the body, but also what a distraction. Eating, sleeping, moving, bring pleasure but also take time & require attention at regular intervals. This can interrupt your focus on other things. Other things that also take time. The main issue I have with time is that I spend a lot of it doing things that I think I'm interested in but am really only interested in the outcome and I don't spend enough time considering whether there might be an easier, quicker, or more direct way for me to obtain the outcome or if the outcome itself could be secondary to a further outcome and skipped over.

2021/7/5 #poetry Sometimes I feel it's such a shame to eat a fruit, to cut up a squash. The shape, color, and patterns so beautiful, destroyed, consumed. This utterly unique specimen erased, never to be seen again. I get myself past this momentary angst by reminding myself that even if I don't eat it it wont last long. That I appreciated it, took a moment to really drink it in, must be enough. I've nothing else to offer. I'd plant its seeds if I could. I'd take photographs had I the skill, or perhaps draw or paint it. Even if I could, there are too many things for me to honor this way. My glimmer of awe must suffice.

2021/7/4 #poetry If I had to assume, I'd say most of my assumptions about people, my first impressions, are upward of ninety percent accurate. I know I'm not supposed to rely too heavily on my assumptions, but people aren't exactly hiding who they are. Assuming is how the brain operates after all. I realize that I am biased and will promptly forget my misjudgments while retaining more accurate impressions. If we didn't do that we would probably feel a lot less safe. I suppose this is the case for many people, they don't trust their assessments and take much longer to trust new people.

2021/7/3 #poetry It's just so easy to bind yourself up with words, to swiftly paint yourself into a corner, to box yourself in. Your thoughts translated into speech won't necessarily be interpreted as intended. The results of this can vary widely, and your ability to clarify depends on what has transpired in between. I do suppose, if you could predict with perfect accuracy the results of your actions, then things could get pretty boring.

2021/7/2 #poetry A few inches, a few feet, a few seconds, a few years. What a difference a change in perspective can make. Even just a small change. Tiny. Go up one floor and you have a view over rooftops. A little paint, change of color, can make a room or a building feel fresh. What was a source of discomfort now feels pleasant. Cold harsh weather, when you have a full belly and somewhere to go is a different environment to the same weather with an empty stomach and nowhere to be.

2021/7/1 #poetry Over there keep going keep going You'll know when you've found it It's worth it I swear Hurry along don't terry don't terry You don't want to miss it You really should care Give it some time keep waiting keep waiting It grows on you 'till it is too much to bear

2021/6/30 #poetry In the pit of the quarry the wind whips by Cauldron of roiling vapors Unceasing gale Yet I feel calm As I watch the grass Undulating in waves Listen to the continuous roar Smell the soil and the leaves drying “Fill me up” I implore “Fortify me 'fore I return to the city”.