A couple of years ago, I read Dan Harris’s book, ‘10% Happier.’ I've recommended it many times since. Dan’s willingness to share his story gives an encouraging and realistic first look at mindfulness practices. While I am, just now, beginning to actually work meditation into my own daily practices, it stuck with me. It also stressed the importance of not feeling like you have to conquer the mountain all at once. It is okay, and even admirable, to focus daily progress while not beating yourself up about the ways in which you may have fallen short. It's also important to have realistic expectations. Will meditation and other mindfulness practices allow you to live out the rest of your days in perfect peace and contentment? Probably not, but an outcome of being 10% happier seems like a pretty realistic hope, right? Anyway, if you have not read the book, I highly recommend it.
The point of this post, while it would be a worthy focus, is not to sell you on Dan Harris’s book. My intent here is multiple. First, I want to acknowledge that I often set goals and fail to meet them. For example, I am intending this post to be a return to regular blogging. If you've read any of my blogs, you know that I struggle to maintain a steady stream of regular content. This carries with it a secondary goal. By seeking to establish a pattern of regular writing, I hope to establish the habits that will someday help me to write a larger work such as a memoir or a novel.
In addition to wanting to write more, I am seeking to be a better version of me in other ways. For instance, I have made an intentional, focused effort in 2017 on improving my health. So far this year, I have been able to lose nearly 40 lbs, taken my blood sugar numbers from pre-diabetic numbers back down to a healthy normal, and I have brought my cholesterol numbers until control. Blood pressure continues to be a tad high, but it is much improved from where it was.
Also, the summer of 2017 has forced the LBGTQ+ community in my home town of Columbus, Ohio to take a much harder and much needed look at the role of race and gender within a community within a collective of persons who should understand the value of diversity. I was naive enough to think that, on some level, I got it in terms of race. I work in an African-American-focused counseling agency. My ex is black. I have no lingering doubts that persons who are black and brown experience the world very differently than I do, especially within the realm of law enforcement. Still, I failed to see the very real trauma that is experienced by many people of color when confronted with uniformed, or worse, armored police officers. I failed to recognize how systemic structures have benefited me and hindered those who do not look like me. I, simultaneously, feel like I have learned so much in the past few months and like I have learned nothing at all. I will be on this journey for the rest of my life, but a few media items that have helped me, as a white person, so far are:
Books:
- ‘Waking Up White’ by Debby Irving
- ‘Becoming Ms. Burton’ by Susan Burton
- ‘The New Jim Crow’ by Michelle Alexander
Films:
I am also exploring how I can be a better inhabitant and steward of our planet. One way that I am doing that is by making the conscious choice to eat vegetarian. In addition to the health benefits and concerns for the humane treatment of animals, eating vegetarian had enormous benefits for the environment. The resources expended to raise, slaughter, process, package, and transport animals to be consumed for food are enormous. In addition, animals emit large amounts of methane gas themselves. All of this contributes to a weakening of our ecological system. I am also committing to taking a conscious look at my schedule each week and identifying at least two days that I can use public transit, leaving my car at home. My schedule, on some days, is too tight or I have to go too far to make public transportation a viable option, but, most weeks, I can find at least two days to make it work. It's not a complete fix, but it's a start.
So, those are some of the things that I am currently working on to make me a better version of me. I'm also currently working on getting some organization around my personal finances as well as ways to better organize my physical spaces. Plus, I'm sure that I will identify other areas with opportunities for improvement along the way. I invite you along to share in this journey, maybe learn something from my successes and/or mistakes, and to hold me accountable to this journey of intentional living and growth.
~ Culbs
