"Meditation practice isn't about trying to throw ourselves away and become something better. It's about befriending who we are already. The ground of practice is you or me or whoever we are right now, just as we are." — Pema Chodron

January 4th, 2009

Needs-based buying vs. decision-based buying:
Needs-based buying — "I need this. We need this. I will go find it."
Decision-based buying — "Oooooo look at that! I think i need that. I think I'll buy it."
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Enjoying reading Walden, a copy of which I picked up at Longfellow Books on Friday. Much of it so far resonates with my thinking on this experiment.
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Watching the ice floes on the Stroudwater River today (while rushing down highway 295 to Staples at the mall in hopes of finding blue cartridges for my good pen...turns out they only had black....).
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Spoke at Portland Friends Meeting today for the first time. Mentioned following through on a leading to depart from the internet for a year — some more good discussions — people quietly congratulating, or resonating, or wishing such a thing were possible for themselves — Sarah L on the internet "sabbath" she and Rob take sometimes; Beth B-N on the inability of some of her students (high school) to really ponder an idea, because they are so well-trained by their cell phones to check their messages every ten minutes—genuine deep concern on her face.
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vis a vis starting a business — is this promotional suicide or a publicity stunt? Functioning more as latter.