Done. Next Project!

In March when I first created the “Sheryl’s Lucid Dream” page, it was intended to be the one place that anyone interested could go to find out about my Lucid Dream: What is it? Why does it matter? Now that page is a record of how it happened; what I did to get there. And FYI, it’s been renamed “Lucid Dream Project 2011”.

It’s May. I’ve attended the Scanner Retreat. It’s time to move on to new things – whatever those are! I’ll be figuring out my next steps as soon as I get over the shock of being back in my “old” life.

Stay tuned. This blog will most likely continue to be the chosen method of communication for my next outrageous projects.

Take the Leap

This captures how it has been to realize my Lucid Dream:

“Sometimes you just have to TAKE THE LEAP, & build your wings on the way down.”

My wings have been built feather by feather by my friends, who have believed in me, coached me and encouraged me. Now I am going to fly.

-Sign is from Samasati Retreat Center‘s Facebook page.

Meet Barbara Sher

Sorry, not for real (at least, not on my blog!) – it’s a photo of Barbara at the Retreat location. And no, she’s not listed as an item on the Auction page! (Cheeky lot, aren’t you?)

If you’re wondering, “Barbara Sher? Retreat? Auction? What are you talking about?” click the link at top of page: Lucid Dream Project 2011.

Spring has sprung

The First Day of Spring came on a Sunday this year. The past few days have been very springlike in Seattle: sunshine and daytime high temps in the 50s. I actually sat outside talking with a friend, at 10 pm last night (!!) – with a coat on, of course! Unfortunately, my friend got quite chilled (he’s from Texas, not used to Seattle’s cold and damp). This is so different from March a few years ago: it snowed!

Of course, this time of year I always think, “renewal” and “new beginnings”. Today I added a new thought to that familiar pattern: Why is it that I associate the start of Spring, and words like renewal, with a particular day on the calendar? If you think about it, in February the crocuses began pushing up, the plum trees began blooming, and other trees suddenly had buds all over. Spring truly began over a month ago.

The date on the calendar is more of a wake-up call: to look around and notice that Spring is actually already here. To notice that the sudden wonder of Spring’s proliferation was maybe not so sudden after all; to remember that every blossoming – of a flower, or even a project, a dream, a task – is accomplished through a series of underground developments…by taking a series of small steps.

As I’ve told myself and my friends repeatedly, Incremental change is still change! You have to stop along the way and acknowledge those increments, especially at the times you feel like you’re making no progress at all.

“The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”
-Lao-Tzu, Chinese philosopher (604 BC – 531 BC)

The kindness theme of this blog continues…

…as a result of my online search for the original speaker of these words:

“Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle.”

Here’s the most concise, accurate and heartfelt answer I found:

“It’s a great quote, but it’s unclear who said it. It actually seems to be an amalgamation of two separate quotations. Author James M. Barrie, of Peter Pan fame, said “Be kinder than necessary.” But his advice stops there. Plato is quoted as saying “Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.”

Whoever pushed these two together actually created a more thoughtful and salient point. It’s worth remembering the next time you find yourself about to be ungracious with someone.”

-Copied from David M. Perkins’ web site: http://www.dmperkins.com/2010/03/be-kinder-than-necessary/

My thanks to you, David.

Can’t Find a Name

Huh.  WordPress.com claims, “Sign up now and you’ll be blogging in minutes.”  Naturally, I assumed that meant five minutes or less – not thirty!   So what’s the holdup?  Well okay, admittedly I am slow – no, not the “slow student” kind of slow, the “do things slowly” kind of slow – but in this case I had to run through many possible blog names before I found one that wasn’t already taken.  How many did I run through?  Oh, at least ten.  Maybe fifteen.  Good grief.  

I was seriously thinking I’d just come back and do this another day — the same thought I’ve been having since I first mentioned this whole crazy blog idea to a couple friends who have been asking me, “When are you gonna start that blog, anyway?” — when I had one of those laugh-out-loud-then-smack-myself-in-the-forehead kind of realizations:

First, I remembered something.   My biggest fear about starting a blog was (is?) that I’ll have nothing to say – or so little to say, why even bother.  I have read over and again on countless blogs how the blogger worries they have nothing to say, nothing worthwhile to share.   Or that they won’t continue to have something worthwhile to say.  And maybe three people read their blog anyway.  This fear that you/I/we have nothing to say is shared by all bloggers.  

Then came the laugh-out-loud part:  In fact, we are all so afraid we’ll have nothing to say that all the blog names I could spontaneously think up were already taken.  (The logic just boggles me.)  Lots of blogs… lots of nothing to say… you get it?

And then the smack-myself-in-the-forehead part:  If we’re all afraid of having nothing to say, and all my good blog name ideas are already taken <makes mean face at monitor> then what good is my waiting around gonna do?  Why not wade into the blog pool along with everyone else who has nothing to say.  Now.  Not later, when I have it all figured out.  Now.  Don’t make this into one more thing I have to get right before I even begin.  It will be the moments along the way that will be the most instructive, the most rewarding.

My blog name is original, from a poem I wrote long ago.  I’ll post it later.  Gotta keep you (all three of my readers) interested somehow!

Not bad for my first blog post, eh?  Happy Blogday to me, Happy Blogday to me…