Dr. Mark's Musings

It’s a beautiful, snowy, almost-Spring morning in Santa Fe. I shoveled in the dark at 6:00AM. It was quiet outside. Very quiet. Peaceful, still, and renewing.

The branches are heavy with a wet snow. The trees, some pines upwards of 50 feet tall, seem unburdened, standing high and strong.

It’s a Monday morning, and my practice is so busy that it’s hard to keep up. Actually, I’m not keeping up. Monday mornings often include a wish that the weekend was here again. Weekends offer some protection. No matter that most things in town are closed or delayed by a few hours by the snow this morning. I awoke at 5AM already feeling like I had worked for hours.

But I’m blessed.

I’m reminded of my post-doctoral fellowship days, when I counted the days to the weekend for other reasons, and when every day felt like a burden before it even started.

I’m also reminded of days not too long ago when I hoped for 20 hours of work a week. It seemed unimaginable that I could ever get there. But I got there, with little effort at all. And I left that goal in the dust in no time.

Yes, I am blessed!

It’s easy to get overwhelmed with life. While the circumstances are different, the outcome is the same for us all. I’m not sure if it’s always been this way for us “advanced” humans, but I am sure that it doesn’t have to be this way now.

It seems that it would be rather simple to take the edge off a busy life…to feel more blessed and less burdened.

Maybe some sort of ritual to finish off one day, and another to start a new day.

Maybe a certain structure to make it easier to see the progress, and to help soften the edge of what has yet to be done.

Maybe trusting that by taking on less, more fulfillment will come and, with it, more resilience for the days when overwhelm is inevitable.

It really is a beautiful day. Why take away from it by imposing another day’s “stuff” on it?

Simple. Nothing new. But worthy of a reminder nonetheless, for how many of us actually practice this?

So…

How might you finish each day, and start each new day with a clean slate, no matter what?

Life is good! Great, actually. That part doesn’t change. Every new day is an opportunity for a clean slate.

With Love,
Dr. Mark

I returned to Santa Fe from South Florida last night. It still amazes me at how in the span of just five or six hours I can be transported between worlds. Yesterday I had coffee on a breezy, 70-degree sunny morning, watching the boats and relaxing before my flight. Today, the birds chirp as they stock up for yet another snowstorm in the foothills of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Every bit as beautiful as yesterday… yet a dichotomy that nurtures my soul.

I returned here feeling energized, renewed, and with a resolve to stand firm and tall in the face of a routine that no longer fits. It has served me well! But, all things change.

An impending move? Probably not. Career change? I don’t think so. Another kind of major shakeup? Depends what you call “major.” A simple shift in attitude can change worlds. It’s happened before.

What I do know is that no matter what the day may hold, taking a moment to energize and renew will be life-changing. It doesn’t have to be a trip out of State. It doesn’t even have to cost money. We each have our way.

What’s yours?

With Love,
Dr. Mark

Oftentimes, I find, my best writing gets done in a steam of consciousness — that time warp where I sit back and type or speak into a recorder without much attention to what is coming out…no worries about spelling right or of speaking perfectly. I can recall that when I was writing A Life Aligned, I experimented with these streams of consciousness. The pages written from that place, wherever my mind happened to take me, were so different than the rest. They came quickly and steadily. There was no editing in the moment. It just flowed.

I wonder sometimes what life would be like if I allowed myself to actually live moments like that; not just limiting them to my writing time. Just moments of pure connection to the energy flowing through me, without mind or matter to where the energy might lead or to the experience that I am having. It seems to me that those moments would be akin to those that Joseph Campbell called “bliss.”

I’m going to try an experiment during the coming week. At least once a day I will take a few minutes to simply go wherever that moment takes me, without letting my thoughts in the moment or about what is happening direct me. Then, in retrospect, I will write about the experiences while in a similar stream of consciousness.

Autopilot, get ready!

With Love,
Dr. Mark.