After meditation comes action

Winter writing sanctuary day 6

Today’s candlelight meditation and yesterday’s essay are companion pieces. Here’s the fruit of my meditation, not remotely linked to the prompt given by

Beth Kempton

The picture shows the chair I write in and some of the bookshelves which I am pleased to report already contain fewer books than when I took the picture this morning!

After the meditation…

Reluctantly I drag myself back from the comfort and darkness of closed eyes. Can I keep the peace of this moment with me as I tackle the day? The candle burns still, the flame steady in the quiet room. Can I stay steady like that in the turmoil of life? Can I keep that beacon of sanctuary burning inside my anxious mind?

My intention for the day (week? month? year?) is to keep hold of that peace, not grasped tightly like a toddler with a treasured toy, but cradled gently as one would hold a new born bird.

Order creates chaos you say….I know that for me at this time, chaos creates chaos- the untidy and disordered house has created a chaotic and anxious mind. This series of writing exercises has shown me how far down the slippery slope into chaos my mind has already slid. But I have a plan. Two sunny days have helped, but the rain is back today and I need to be mindful of that. Not that I worry about getting wet, but I know that days when it doesn’t get properly light can induce apathy and lethargy if I’m not careful.

Yesterday I wrote about the steps at the beginning of my plan to create physical and mental order; today I need to act on them. Therefore I will extinguish the candle and transition back into the real world for step 1 or operation create order from chaos. 20 mins of yoga followed by a drastic book-cull but remembering to keep the peace of the candlelit meditation cradled in my mind.

I know I CAN do this.