OK, I finally finished a big project I was slowly working on, my renewal of creative path (ROCP). If you want to know more about it, I'll let the person who taught me about it, teach you:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eY-TzXf9lVI
https://open.spotify.com/show/3RXH7e7UJo51D56HEZ2ZPT
In any case, I'm now working on a new project. I am listening to/reading a book by John Norcross walking through the science and implementation of Prochaska's transtheoretical model of change, so I'm going to try applying that to this. Though I'll be using some other strategies I already know as well. This is about behavior change, related to making good use of my time. Which is a tricky and complex thing to address, because there are so many elements to it and ways of thinking about it and approaching it, so to start off with I was just trying to get a bit more of a clear handle on what I actually want, out of this goal/behavior change.
I have kind of moved a bit away from the direct "do things faster" or "get a better system so you can do more things" approach, to think more about the want behind that goal. Really, I want to be able to look back at my day and feel good about how I spent it. That's about a lot more than timeboxing and having a todo list. It's about how I choose what to work on, and also the way, I do things. Think of the old cliche about doing the dishes as a spiritual practice. Anything you do can be elevated to become something meaningful, if you do it in the right way. Spiritualizing the mundane, maybe you'd call it.
From this perspective, the specific systems for organizing and time management are less important, though they still may play a role some of the time. It's a lot more about choosing what I do mindfully, and doing it in a good way. Mindfully doesn't really capture it though, it's just a buzzword. I've got very specific examples and peak experiences from my own life that make it much more concrete and specific for me.
It's about nishkama karma, or karma yoga, partially. It's about living in the immensity, the mystery, and as a part of the underlying reality of love and unity. Acting from that place, and letting go of attachment and over-thinking about the results, so as to focus fully on the doing. And acting from a place of love, connection, and transpersonal identification, again, so that action is coming from a good place. I do not think the ends justify the means, because the same basic action done with love vs. selfishness can have very different results and repercussions, both for oneself and the others it effects.
This is the "Filtering" project I'd been talking about previously. It's the same thing, just with me trying to specify and operationalize it for myself. It's still not simple though, which makes me think I've got a good way to go on it still. Once I can elegantly summarize it from personal experience, I'll know I've got the hang of it.
In any case, previously I was just kind of idly thinking about it, but now I'm starting to activly take steps towards implementing it.
That's where I am for today.
Progress notes still taking an hour a pop. Practicum is coming to a close in a few weeks. Internship will then start up, and I'll need to take on twice as many clients to make sure I get all my hours it, which will be a lot. Also, I'll need to study for and take the counselor certification exam. So, it's gonna be very full, even though I won't have a second class I'm doing at the same time.
Also, apparently my 40th birthday is coming up. Kinda odd to think about but not that odd, I've felt like a curmudgeonly 90 year old man since I was a kid and often think about my death, so it's not too big of a jump :D
I've got to go now, so I guess I'm ending this for now.
All the best, dear friends and family,
-I Out.
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