In the Beginning...

If there was a purpose to why I have decided to chronicle my journey over the next 31 days (July 2011), it would have to come from the quote hanging in the banner below this blog's title.

"Don't run through life so fast that you forget not only where you've been, but also where you're going. Life is not a race, but a journey to be savored each step of the way. " - Stephen Richards

For years, I have found myself teetering on the precipice of the past and future, attempting to understand how the former influences the latter. With all of my attempts at understanding this cosmic equation of time and how it's product is essentially "my life," I have often lost sight of the experiences and moments that make up the here and now. Those moments are generated the instant we breathe, laugh, cry, doubt, believe, move, blink, chew, or remain still. They are the actions that elicit our experiences that then become our past and were foreseen as our future. Yet we lose our opportunities of rich experience because of our mathematical drive to move from Point A to Point B at X-speed. In a sense, we lose portions of our life from the daredevil speeds we chose to accelerate to, missing the landmarks that would otherwise both enrich and help maintain the richness of our journey.

Over five weeks ago, I had little to no understanding of what it means to be mindful. After learning through multiple mediums, including an engagement in daily practices and a full-day retreat, I can see how my life has become more enriched by the opportunities that I took to be present in the midst of both joy and suffering. Through it all, compassion and acceptance began to become the cycle that moved through me just as the breath enters and exits the body. They became life forces. Even though the class is over, my journey has now only just begun as a more independent practitioner of mindfulness, and will continue on as long as its value is maintained.

This blog is to serve as a record of my journey through my continued exploration into mindfulness. Over the next 31 days (all of July 2011), I will provide an account of not only my personal experiences with mindfulness and meditative practices, but also a conglomeration of reflections on the writings of other mindfulness practitioners, resources/websites related to mindfulness, other practices, quotations, and (hopefully) at least one retreat experience. As a student of MFT, it is my goal to also place my reflections within a context of marriage and family therapy practices. These may be applied to either the use of practice in therapy sessions or in the development of the self as therapist.

With compassion, I have set before me a standard of at least 5-6 postings per week with the opportunity to always post more and to post with great variety in content. Please feel free to comment on any of my posts. I would welcome the dialogue in the sharing of experiences and perspectives.

Let the journey begin!