Wednesday, August 9, 2017

NEW BLOGS

I'd be delighted if readers of the Buddha Diaries would click on over to one (or both!) of the other two blogs I'm juggling at the moment. The Rohrabacher Letters has been going for some time now: I formed the intention, back in January, to write a near-daily letter to my extreme right-wing representative in Congress, Dana Rohrabacher. I may have mentioned before that Ellie and I changed our registration to our Laguna Beach address some years ago: our Los Angeles district is safely Democratic--represented currently by Adam Schiff, so we felt out votes would count for more down here in staunchly Republican Orange County. Following the Tr*mp inauguration--I can't bear to use his name!--I wondered what I could do to be an active and responsible citizen, and came up with the idea of writing letters. They are all personally thought-out and written, hand-signed and hand-addressed to the congressman's office, and address any issue appropriate to the day. Thus far,I have received three or four responses--all boilerplate Republican talking points. I write about that today.

The other blog is A Diet of Choice. I started this blog back in 2008, with the best of intentions. A long time ago (in 1986) I tried "choice" as a way to give up smoking cigarettes. I had been smoking since the age of 13, and for the past ten years had been trying to give up. I had tried everything, from hypnotism to patches. Nothing worked. After a few days, I'd be back at it. Then a friend suggested something different: instead of telling myself constantly, "mustn't, shouldn't," try finding a few good reasons to "choose not to." I did. It worked. I have not smoked a cigarette since that time.

I started putting on weight perhaps fifteen years ago. My youthful weight was around 145 pounds. By the year 2000 it was up to 180 plus. In the next decade it had increased to 190, often as high as 192. Aside from the aesthetics of the protruding belly and the vanity of physical appearance, I felt uncomfortable with the weight. I was sleeping less well, and woke up feeling bloated. And my occasional resolve to "do something about it" met with occasional success and constant relapse. Recognizing that the addiction was not unlike that to smoking cigarettes, I thought to try "a diet of choice."

My resolve, evidently, was not strong enough. The blog lasted into 2009, but was soon abandoned, along with any serious, lasting effort to lose the weight. Finally fed up with myself for succumbing to the addiction to both food and drink, I thought back, a few days ago, and remembered the blog. So I have restarted it. It's simple, really. Writing, along with meditation, is my way of being conscious about what's happening in my life, and I tend to eat and drink more than I should out of sheer unconsciousness. I do it because it's there, in front of me, and it serves to calm my anxieties and soothe whatever pain I might be feeling somewhere below the level of consciousness.

So, please join me, if interested. As always, I'd be happy to have you with me on the journey.


No comments: