Stargazing, enlightenment and everyday miracles

We are all capable of so much — and of helping so many others

Hi friends,

It's getting darker much earlier in the day, with the sun setting around 4:45 p.m. on the East Coast. At bars and restaurants this week, people have noted "how dark it's getting," as if this is a new phenomenon. The darkness can promote seasonal affective disorder, a kind of depression I intermittently had during cold, dark Syracuse winters. It is very real, which we must accept. But one technique that has helped me through the winter centers on acceptance: We can embrace the gifts that darkness presents, rather than waste precious time complaining about something over which we have no ability to change.

Dark now? It can be advantageous, indeed, allowing for more time to spend inside, conversing with friends and family at dinner or by the warm fireplace. More time to sit and read. More time to plan for a future of financial freedom. More time to write thank you notes and love letters. More time to sit play fetch with the family dog. More time to sit with our journals and better understand ourselves. Or more time to spend a few minutes outside looking up at the sky, meditating on the universe and our place in it. 

The latter might be one of the most overlooked benefits of the late fall/winter months. For a few minutes in the evening, I try to be conscious of the universe by looking above. I close my eyes for a moment, relax my body and then open my eyes and refresh my attention using a soft gaze. The brief exercise leaves me less concerned about something that may have transpired in the past day, or something on my mind for the days ahead. Meditating on the vastness of the universe helps me come to the realization that my concerns usually are insignificant. The Earth will keep spinning long after I’m gone. Might as well enjoy this moment, this day, as much as I can. Sure, many of us would love to read on a beach until well past 6 p.m. through the winter. But the cold, gloomy months offer powerful gifts too.

Each day is a miracle

We live in a life of miracles. I was sitting at a lake a week ago, reading and doing nothing in particular other than letting my mind wander, while taking in the beautiful fall day in New York. Each moment, each day, miracles happen. A leaf turning orange. A leaf falling to the dirt below. A couple laughing as they walk by. A woman running. I jotted down a nature meditation:

I love you, Sun.

I love you, air and wind.

I love you dirt. When I walk, I will attempt to meditate with the Earth. By walking, we have a chance to be with the Earth, to meditate with this planet, to feel our feet touching this amazing place with each step.

Bob Marley on life

Marley was once asked in an interview: As a rich man, do you have a lot of possessions? He replied:

“I don’t have that kind of richness. My richness is life.”

Top nuggets and takeaways from "Everyday Enlightenment Journal" by Dan Millman (highly recommend…which lines resonate most with you?)

• Hidden within the changing fortunes of our everyday lives is a deep yearning for understanding and peace

• In the quiet hours, moments of repose and openness, our souls seek the sacred truths and intuitive wisdom at the heart of our existence

• We get busy with details, deadlines and plans so much that we forget to spend quiet time truly living

• Thoreau went to Walden Pond because he "wished to live deliberately — to front only the essential facts of life."

• Every once in a while, something happens that interrupts business as usual, and the little things that seemed so important become small stuff

• Friedrich Nietzsche: If each of us sweeps in front of our own doorstep, the whole world will be clean

• Look at the world with eyes of wonder and love

• Change yourself. Changing homes, clothing, hairstyles — forget it. Change your inner self

• Enlightenment: A call to action to reinvent your life, reawaken the light within you, refresh your spirit, live fully with clarity and awareness, and enrich your life and other lives

• Remind yourself that you already have more abundance than you need

• The moment you recognize the degree to which your difficulties are self-imposed, you begin to heal them

• Life is an unearned gift. Just being here is the unearned gift

• The best way to do what you need or want to do is to just do it

• There is no better time than NOW

• Obstacles are always between you and anything worthwhile. (The obstacle is the way)

• Take one slow, deep breath as slowly and deeply as you can — inhale light, healing and vitality; exhale and let go — feel a moment of enlightenment 

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  Cornerstones of an energized life:

• Regular exercise

• Healthful diet

• Fresh air

• Water

• Rest

• Engaging in a creative activity

Make these absolute priorities.

• In moderation, relaxation is not laziness — it is a life skill to enrichen yourself

• You can live for weeks without food and days without water, but only minutes without breathing. Oxygen is free. Indulge yourself

• Make habits conscious ones

• Breathe deeply and relax as much as you can in everything you do. As you consistently relax, even in difficult moments, your body goes to a state of ease

• Thoughts, feelings, emotions: It all comes and goes. They are no problem unless we make them a problem

• Look up — notice the beauty of life, wake up to it

• Release a thought as you would a fish, back into the stream

• There is no need to "fix" or "calm down" your mind. Just let it be. This is the highest level of meditation

• Everyday enlightenment is, above all things, a loving embrace of the moment

• Ask yourself, What would I do with my time, my life, if I were whole and complete? Now go do it

Four last notes from “Everyday Enlightenment” to live by:

• The truth will always set you free

• The best years of your life are in right in front of you

• It's not too late to become the person you have always dreamed of being

• Don't compare yourself to others

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8 Stoic habits to do each day, according to The Daily Stoic:

1. Journal—prepare for the hours ahead

2. Go for a walk

3. Do some deep work

4. Do a kindness (do a kind act)

5. Read. Read. Read.

6. Get some exercise

7. Connect with friends and family

8. Meditate on your mortality

A beautiful poem: 

Stand still. The trees ahead and bushes beside you

Are not lost. Wherever you are is called Here,

And you must treat it as a powerful stranger,

Must ask permission to know it and be known.

The forest breathes. Listen. It answers,

I have made this place around you.

If you leave it, you may come back again, saying Here.

No two trees are the same to Raven.

No two branches are the same to Wren.

If what a tree or a bush does is lost on you,

You are surely lost. Stand still. The forest knows

Where you are. You must let it find you.

— “Lost” by David Wagoner

Photos of the week: Enjoying the last few sun-splashed days of fall in Skaneateles, N.Y. and Fayetteville, N.Y.

One good thought:

We are all capable of so much — and of helping so many others, regardless of our age, education or ability. If only each of us saw how much we are capable of doing and becoming. Source: Me

One parting question: If you don't take care of your body, where will you live?

Be joyful and celebrate your gifts,

Matthew

P.S. — I am open to any suggestions or feedback you might have. Want to share a meditation? Something that helps you find inner peace? I’m all ears. You can reply directly to this email.