Meditation and Libation

One of the churches in Corpus Christi has a beautiful Labyrinth in their lower level that I've been meaning to go and walk. I've never done so before, but tonight I had the evening off and decided to drive over to check it out.

A little Labyrinth tutorial: (And no, David Bowie doesn't play a role. Sorry guys.)

There is one path. There are no choices or dead ends. The walk in represents the path of purgation or shedding away. The center is a rosette, which symbolizes Christ. This is called the path of Illumination. You can sit and pray or meditate there once you've arrived. You leave the same way you came, but the walk out is called the path of returning where you bring illumination into the world.



There are many other symbolic aspects, but I will stop here as these are the things that struck me this time.

One of the pleasures of an experience like this is that you can walk it a dozen times and experience something new each time.

This, my first time, I was struck by how awkward I felt. I've never done it, and at first it felt almost silly. But, as I continued to walk, I realized that it didn't matter how silly I felt or thought I looked. What mattered is that I was dedicating my time, myself even to the task. To me it became a symbol for my life. Often, in life, I feel silly or awkward, bit when I begin to focus on the task at hand, the my self-consciousness I remember who I am and that most people feel stupid or silly in their life.

I think I will try this walk again and see if I have a different experience. What I think is great about it is that what you get from it depends on What you bring to it.

Of course, the evening was nicely topped off by a brew at Executive Surf Club.





Cheers and Peace be with you

-Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Cooking and Living Healthy

One of my personal goals for the year before I go back to school is to develop healthy eating habits that include improved cooking skills.  Right now, I am trying to cook at home at least four times a week.  This is a challenge for me since I often work during traditional meal times.  I've made some adjustments to my schedule for next week and will be home to eat with my family Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday.  I started planning our dinners and the shopping list by hand, but discovered a website called mealsmatter.org. It is a free meal planning tool with the goal of helping people make better food and meal choices.  It's new to me, so I will save my review until I have used it more.


My plan for the meals this week is thus:

Monday: Homemade whole wheat pizza with turkey pepperoni and a caprese salad. 
Tuesday: Curried pumpkin and peas with basmati rice and a mixed green salad
Wednesday: My family is gone in the evening, so I'll make tostadas for myself.
Thursday: Falafel with a Greek salad
Friday: Salmon Patties with rice and mixed veggies in cheese sauce

My goals are multiple.  I want to start eating fresher foods in smaller portions.  I want to try new recipes and teach myself to be a better cook. And lastly, I want to be more frugal about using food that we already have at home rather than always buying new groceries.  Each meal this week uses ingredients I already have, and several use food we have in the freezer that is in danger of spoiling.

I'm especially excited about the curried Pumpkin, since I love fall foods, so I will make sure to take pictures and let you know how it turns out.


What are some of your favorite at home meals?

Bad Bad Girl

Wow, over a month has gone by, and I've posted nothing.  I'm a bad girl. 

I've had the suggestion that I should also be posting short as well as long posts.  I really am going to try to be better about posting at least once a week.

The last few weeks have had great and frustrating moments.  I'm in the process of applying for graduate schools, and I recently took my GRE test.  I felt great about it; we'll see what happens when I get the results. This process is scary and exciting. The next few months will be filled with lots of waiting and many nerves.