Why Warmth?

February is my most hated month. The holidays are over, the weather tends to be slushy and overcast, and I am tired of winter. My friend suggested I thus choose warmth for this month's theme. I tend to be that person who is always freezing, so focusing on staying warm certainly dovetails with my personal desires. I set a few goals related to physical warmth:

1. Learn how to make a fire in our fireplace and keep it going (we have one of those new-fangled fireplaces that is actually efficient.)
2. Try to consume warm meals and beverages whenever possible.
3. Buy fuzzy socks. It sounds silly, but I am tired of looking for/rewashing the two pairs I have now.
4. Do physical activity that creates the sensation of being warm. I had originally wanted to start with sun salutations, but with the three feet of snow we have received, I have also decided that snow removal and cleaning the floor also counts.

But there is of course more to warmth than the physical - there is also the emotional. I tend to gag at the "warm and fuzzy" references, but doing nice things does improve one's mental state. For instance, I was not a fan of Valentine's Day, with all of its commercially romantic trappings. But when my brothers moved to different parts of the country several years ago I decided to send them packages for Valentine's just so they know they were loved, even if I couldn't see them. I now look forward to creating and mailing them a box of goodies and gag gifts every year. So I would also like to add some "emotional warming" goals to the mix....

February's Theme

The theme for February will be warmth. There will be an explanation. There will be wordplay. Hopefully, there will be growth.

Lessons from January

Although several days behind, I thought I would take a few minutes to and review lessons learned in January:

1. I am so busy with day-to-day tasks and putting out little fires that I don't have enough energy left to work on my bigger and/or longer-term goals.

2. I'm not sure which goals of mine are higher on the priority list because I haven't actually prioritized. Why? Because I don't want to concede that I can't actually do it all. At some point soon, I'm going to have to reconcile, even if my list winds up being "shallow" by conventional measures.

3. I am unaware of the flow of incoming and outgoing resources. If I want to know about emerging patterns, waste, etc., I will have to keep records.

Now, a word on the how the experiment will work. I have by no means mastered the art of mindfulness. February has begun, but mindfulness must continue. Like a layer cake, we will build on previous months using them as a foundation.