Over the years, I have done meditation off-and-on. Mostly, it is the “focus on your breathing” type and only for a few minutes. I have a monkey in my mind that swings from branch to branch flinging crap all over the place. I get discouraged and fall out of the practice for a while. Then something prompts me to take it up again.
It has gotten better ever since I took first and second level Reiki training. Self-reiki is encouraged and I must tell you that I always feel good and revitalized whenever I do it. That little monkey swinging and flinging has something to do now as she visualizes energy pouring into and spreading all over my body.
As a result, I meditate in some form more often and for longer periods.
However, there is a consequence too. As my mind becomes more clear, a lot of junk from the past is coming up, emotional baggage that has sat unclaimed and covered with dust for decades. That little monkey has pulled it out of storage and is making me deal with it.
I guess that’s a good thing. I really ought to reward her with a banana.
ljg 2022
My original goal when I gained access to a garden of my own was to grow my own vegetables. That did not work out so well. It is simply more cost effective to buy my own. However, I discovered that with a little work to rehabilitate the soil and a strategic use of water flowers have taken hold. So I shifted my goal to that of creating a bee sanctuary. While I do have bees visit the the flowers, I also have hummingbirds, moths, wasps and hornets, and butterflies. All of these are pollinators too. Okay, let’s shift the intention again: my goal is to create a pollinators’ oasis.
This weekend while visiting a local nature center, I coincidentally came across a lecture by the center’s curator on the monarch butterfly. (If you want to know more about the monarch, see 
Miss Pelican's Perch 