Yesterday I reflected on death and dying. It helped me to make changes in my life, create better habits (at least to start thinking about them) and infuse me with a positive spirit. I continue on that journey.
Today, with only two days left in this current year, I thought about people enjoying the pleasure of being with friends and loved ones. Everywhere I went in Manila in the past weeks, throngs of people enjoyed the festive end-of-year season. Families and friends met and thoroughly enjoyed spending time together, especially shopping and eating.
Regarding my day, I didn’t feel that I accomplished a lot today. But when I added up my activities, the reality seemed to tell a different story. This has happened to me before, and it left me with a feeling of stumbling into the same hole more than once. Apparently I didn’t learn a lesson yet.
Perhaps I didn’t get to doing things I had set out to do. I certainly didn’t finish all the items on my to-do list, but I rarely do in the best of days. I remember thinking during the day that I should let go of my concern, and live the moment well, like it was the last day of my life. Enjoy!
So what did I do? I got up a bit late; received a new stove, this time with the correct type of oven (gas); read Ask Pud; chatted with a friend; had a delicious brunch of herbed chicken (leftover from last night) and spaghetti; got Adobe Photoshop to work on my computer; bought some DVD movies and concerts for my daughter and myself; and started with Microsoft Money to get myself organized to manage the home finances better in 2007.
I also discovered a guitar shop that I didn’t know about and specializes in Ibanez guitars; arranged with my saxophone teacher to visit his family tomorrow on his invitation; had a nice dinner with my daughter in Trio restaurant eating her favorite menu of spinach soup and thin-crust cheese pizza; paid end-of-month salaries to helpers; and decluttered a few more parts of the house this evening.
I am happy with this harvest. For tomorrow I plan to declutter more, and decide what habits and things have outlived their usefulness and can “die” at the end of this year, thereby making space for new life and experience in 2007.
My day is coming to an end nicely, writing this post, and seeing my daughter write down the lyrics of songs she wants to learn - ABBA’s Money Money Money is her choice of the moment.
A moment ago, she seemed to announce the end of the day when she rang the Balinese bell, and then struck the Tibetan singing bowl, both three times. Their sound “cleared” the air.
Photographs: Tibetan singing bowl and Balinese bell
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