Monday Motivation: Motivation and Meditation

I've heard rumors that meditation helps motivation. I'm about to find out if it does because after the stressful day I've had I'm ready to change something. Normally I meditate in the afternoon, but that is becoming impossible because of the music that reverberates through the walls of my apartment. When I first moved in the music didn't bother me, but lately it's become irritating. It could be that the guy next door plays the same damn songs over and over and over.


The music not only interferes with meditation, but it interferes with writing as well. I can't th ink while the that music is playing. I have missed three weeks of submitting a story to a challenge on writing.com. I have a chance to make up the three stories I've missed; however, in order to do that I must write a 2,500 to 5,000 word story this week, a 5,000 to 10,000 word story next week, and a 8,000 to 40,000 word story the following week. Since the music plays in the afternoon between 3:00 pm to 7:00 or 8:00 pm I will be doing most of my writing and meditating in the mornings or late evenings. The advantage to this is that I will have my afternoons free to do housework or go grocery shopping unless I go to a food bank (I have to go to those before noon.

Beginning on Tuesday I will do my meditation in the morning and pray I don't go to sleep while meditating. Perhaps I should change my bedtime from 9:30 to 10:30 pm, that way if I go to sleep while meditating it won't matter. Look for an update to this sometime later this week.

Monday Motivation: Ways to Get Motivated

Today I discovered two things that motivate me. First, is catching up on a writing project and finishing it before the high noon deadline. Second, is a FEDEX driver delivering an expected package to my door. I was thrilled when I saw the dark brown delivery truck park in front of my apartment. The deliver person brought the mini food chopper I have been expecting since November 1, 2014.

All right, I know better then to order something for myself that close to the holidays because it will take longer then expected. The food chopper came so now I can go to the grocery store and purchase some fresh vegetables instead of fresh frozen vegetables. I used the fresh frozen because I had to cut them up, which meant I never got them sliced the same size twice. The food chopper will allow me to chop the vegetables for soup or omelets evenly and this will help when cooking them.

The writing project I finished was the January 28 issue of the writing.com fantasy newsletter. I finished it last night between 9:00 and 11:00 pm Pacific Standard Time. My problem with the newsletter was a theme. Sometimes I have no difficulties thinking of a subject, but for some reason I could not come up with a subject until last night. The newsletter was not the only writing project I had difficulty with this past week. I also had problems when it came to a Naani poem.

The Naani form is one of India's Telugu poems. Naani, which is composed of four lines containing between 20 to 25 syllables, means "an expression of one and all". It was due last night at 9:00 pm Pacific Standard Time (Midnight EST), I thought about it all week, but could not come up with anything. Finally yesterday, after making a blog entry in my writing.com blog about the Doomsday Clock, I came up with the title (Three Minutes to Midnight) and the rest of the poem was easy.

Haibun-Haiku: Looking for motivation

I took out the trash
I stood a while in the sun
Listened to birds

I lack motivation this morning. I tried doing the dishes, but that did not motivate me. I fixed breakfast and I took out the trash. While I was outside I stood in the sun and I listened to a bird sing. I noticed that the neighbors across the street are decorating their yard for Halloween. The have a pumpkin on the front porch that they light up at night and they have a mannequin hanging from the oak tree. I will have to watch and see if they add anything else to the yard decorations.

the sun is shining
casting shadows deep and dark
a breeze in the trees

It is a beautiful day in Las Vegas. I would like to go out in the sun again, but I have to keep an eye on Mom. I still have some trash and recyclables in the kitchen to take to the garage. I will take them out a little at a time, that way I get to stand in the sun and look around the neighborhood. When I am outside, I leave the door open so that I can hear Mom.