"Are you breathing just a little and calling it a life?" Mary Oliver

Last January I accidentally got half way thru the month and realized, partly because of a bunch of fresh snow, that I had exercised daily.  I wondered if I could continue for the entire month since I was already half way there.  I decided to try.  One day I gave up because I didn't want to make time for it that day and it would only be ego.  However, then I got together with 2 friends and because of Co-Vid we spent over an hour walking together outside in January. 

I ended up exercising every day last January.

At the end of the month I wanted to keep up a daily practice, a more sustainable one than daily exercise.  So I brainstormed a list of possibilities and began.

February - Notice the sunset - every day.  How many days does the sun rise and set and I pay zero attention?  In February the sun is setting right around dinnertime so it was really easy - between working and eating to glance at the sky.  I originally didn't choose sunrises because I thought I'd miss some, but I ended up catching at least a glimpse of both.  I enjoyed this practice immensely.  I thought I might carry it with me, looking at the sky more, and maybe I did for a while, but writing this in December the practice definitely wore off. 

March - Write for a least 10 minutes every day beyond my gratitudes.  I was taking an Online Writing and Meditation Class for the first chunk of the month, where we were supposed to do timed writings multiple times a week.  So this daily practice supported that, but definitely took a bit more effort.

April - National Poetry Month - Read a poem a day.  I made my way mostly thru a book of poem's my friend's mom gave me that sits by my bed.  I still haven't finished the book, so maybe I'll do the practice again at some point to finish.

May -  Walk around the pond across the street. It is less than a 5 minute walk, and something I easily take for granted/forget to appreciate.

June - Things were feeling stressful in my life and I did not have the energy for a daily practice. However I do have some essential oils that I enjoy, but hardly use.  I vowed to smell one, once a day. 

July - I was ready for a bit of a challenge. I still am intimidated by drawing so I thought I'd try to do a quick sketch, just a few minutes each day of something in front of me.  The idea was to just dive in, stop thinking and draw. I love how this practice gets you to really see - the window, a clock, the chair, the plant, the lamp, the fan, my bike, my hand, a guitar, a parked car, the couch, the dresser, a tree, a stool, a boat, the front of our home.  That last one I spent a little more time on.  I sat on the sidewalk across the street and took it on.  Our neighbor a couple houses down yelled something at me across the street. I wasn't sure he realized who I was and I had no idea what he'd said for a while, but then it dawned on me, "What's up Picasso?"

August - A few years ago when I went to Spain I started meditating 10 minutes a day, to really take in my trip.  I continued this practice when I got home for a few months.  But now I hardly ever meditate. In August I did again.  It was a good month to pick as we did some camping/traveling and that involves waiting and waiting is a good time for meditating.  Can you tell the difference?  Is there one?

September - Play at least one song on guitar a day.  I hadn't been playing at all, but Michael bought me a songbook at Storyhillfest so it was a great time to dive in again.

October - Write a daily gratitude to Michael.  Despite my focus on gratefulness, it can at times be difficult to be grateful to those we love and are around the most.  And this was a challenge at times this month.

November - Coming into November I still had a lot of enthusiasm for a daily practice. I picked writing a daily poem.  I thought I could pick up a poetry prompt book at the library or find one online.  It never happened, the library didn't seem to have any (how is that possible?) and I only thought about looking online when I was already in bed.  So I'd scribble down four lines that rhymed, or multiple days I'd forget at all.

I was going to say this one was an utter failure. But then when looking for poems by other people for my monthly library poetry group I stumbled across this one that I wrote on Thanksgiving.

No One is Missing

There is a day, a special day, with tables

and chairs

There is a host

There are guests

there is a fullness, a reciprocity, a knowing

there are places and conversations and lives

we have known so well

there is a table

there are chairs

and you sit among them

empty in form

strong in presence

aware of the statistics of life

 

No One is Missing at this table

though your absence is felt

all around

December - Because I'd felt November had been a failure, and I lost my momentum, I decided to keep December as simple as possible.  Before breakfast, open the door, step outside, and take one deep breath.

This was simple, but after a couple weeks (when I got my booster and didn't feel well) I forgot a couple days, then I forgot again when we went to a camper cabin for Xmas, then I forgot again when we got home.

So January - October were great practices and I thought, "Maybe I'll continue with a daily practice next year!"

After Nov/Dec - probably not.