Welcome March 2016

Welcome March 2016
a month of celebration
and writing.

Because of my stay in the hospital, I still have a couple of stories to finish. I'm not sure what else I need to catch up, but whatever it is I'll do it by the end of March. One of my goals for March is to write a poem each day between March 2 and March 20. Those are the day of Fast; however, due to medication and recovering from my hospital stay I can't Fast. Instead of Fasting I'm going to write a poem each day plus give up something that I like to eat or drink.

Vernal equinox
begins another New Year:
What are my writing goals?

I'll have to think about that question. Every year I make a goal of writing 2,000 words a day. Sometimes I accomplish this goal and sometimes I fall short. I have about nineteen days to consider the writing goals I want to make for Naw Ruz.

Time to Recharge my Spiritual Batteries

Jamál (Beauty), 1 ‘Alá (Loftiness), 164 B.E. – Sunday, March 2, 2008 about 7:38 AM PST

It is time to recharge my spiritual batteries. Today, March 2, the first day of ‘Alá the nineteen-day Fast begins. It is a time of abstaining from food and drink between sunup and sundown. Fasting is an ancient custom practiced in many religions. The physical fast is symbolic of the spiritual fast, which is to abstain from anything that draws the individual away from God.

Fasting is a time of prayer, meditation and reflection. ‘Alá ends the year, on March 21 a New Year begins. During ‘Alá I will look at the past year and the things, which have drawn me away from God. 164 B.E. was very stressful, so I will look at the reason for this and find ways to make 165 B.E. less stressful. I will look at the things which have drawn me away from God and find ways to make the reconnection.

One thing I am going to do before March 21 is complete rewriting my personal mission statement. This will help me focus on what is necessary for the coming year. Included in my mission statement are spiritual, material and physical goals. The reason for this is that I am a dual natured creature; I have both a spirit and a body so my mission statement must cover every aspect of my life. If the mission statement does not cover these aspects, it is not complete.