Guitar Circle Journals

Up early at 7:00 and out by 7:30 for an early personal meeting. A different experience to say. Different subject matter than usual and I seemed to not know what to say today.But still worthwhile.

After the meeting I drive to NYC to meet a friend for Breakfast. We met at Fairway which is a huge supermarket that has a café on the second floor. Ordered old fashion sour cream waffles with fresh fruit. Never had these before. They were excellent. The waffle looked like it weighed a ton but it was light airy and full of flavor – highly recommended. After a delightful breakfast and conversation, my friend invited me back to her place as she wanted to show me some of the new plants she recently purchased. We have been having this conversation about the importance of plants in your living space. Well it was worth the trip. Three gorgeous plants that really spruced up the apartment. There’s also something about having other life in an environment than your own. We talked for another 30 and I had to leave for a session in Bronxville.

Only one session today as taking people are advantage of leaving work early and starting their 4th of July weekend.

After the session I did some banking and then drive home. I get home at about 4:00 change into jeans and decide I need the outdoors as it is sunny and clear. I drove to Pelton Pond in the Fahnestock Park . There is a 1.5 mile trail that one can walk around the pond. I chose to find a spot at the waters edge where I could lean up against a tree. I brought a beach blanket to lie down on. I rested under a blue sky for about twenty minutes – you guessed it, I hear Thunder. The sky gets dark there are few drops but then it passes – Yes! A little more resting and then some reading. It’s almost 6:00. I think I’ll hang out a while longer.

Called a friend and went out to dinner at 8:00 – Mexican a needed time with a good friend and great dinner.

AT teacher training (I do table work; then a lot of whispered ahs; the arms continue to unravel; a bit of discussion on direction versus orders — orders (”neck free etc.” are given sequentially, direction goes towards what is right.)

Lunch with a friend in South Austin. Then home.

AAD commitments.

Caught this glimpse and had the camera:

Behind every cloud, is the sun.

Busy family day. ’nuff said.

Very hot, no clouds again. 102ºF high. The ground is very dry.

More health issues in the family. Up every two hours all night. And some added work thrown into the mix.

But in the end, I get almost all of my to do list completed, somehow. Help was available.

Tired, I go soon to bed.

Noticed that I was kinda irritable again, lack of sleep does that to me. I can get by on 7 hours uninterrupted sleep, but if it’s interrupted then … no.

Raining again.

Overslept but needed it. Up At 11:00. Shower, dress and out to the bank. Next JV bagels for coffee and a strawberry croissant.

Drive to White Plains to get new eyeglass lenses. These work as opposed to the last pair. A few adjustments on the frames and I’m back on the road. Home to make some phone calls –  good results from my doctor.

Meet with a peer professional to discuss my practice in the state that it is in and ideas about where to go from here. Good discussion.

Sessions from 5:00 – 8:30.

A small slip in personal discipline, a little chink in the armor, and a good deal of effort is needed to overcome it. Nevertheless, I seem to be on track for recovery. I have some ideas for the next few days.

At work, I am surprised to discover that the team has managed to fix a number of issues. Go team!

Also, some new work has opened up for me. I’m not sure I need new work, but it is comforting to know that I am needed.

A new experience in parenting: the resident toddler fell on the sidewalk, scraped up his knee, and for the first time in a long time he was really in pain. He was too upset to be able to communicate this well, so we had to make our best guesses about the severity of the situation. It seems like it will heal in the next day or two.

Before leaving for work this morning I had a little time to take out the guitar and remind myself of the new part I wrote for Snowed I. I’ll probably try to tab it tonight.

On the way to work I listened to some more of the the new mixes. They sound good but one tune has a computer glitch at the end.

Bronxville by 10:30. The long end of month day doing paperwork. One break at 2:30 for post office and Lunch.

Then more sessions from 3:00 – 9:15.

“There’s no such thing as an easy job, not if you do it right.”–Karl Malden

June has passed, how quickly.

Rain in Austin again, but none here. Plenty of heat.

AT teacher training, with a discussion that included topics revolving around some of Mr. B’s work.

Back home, running errands and grocery shopping. Answering e-mails and taking care of chores.

Very tired today (late to bed last night, and woke up from 2:00-4:30a), and thus easily irritable. Which gives an opportunity for work.

Insight: AT is work for the emotions, by teaching the body and mind to work together more coordinatedly. And thereby emotional re-education is more possible. This may be Mr. B’s reason for finding it more useful than Rolfing, Feldenkrais etc.

There's a feeling I get, when I look to the west ...

Shortly after moving into our current home we met a police officer. He told us that there had been a wave of burglaries in the area, and people’s homes and cars were being looted. Then he told us that the #1 reason for the crimes was that homeowners and vehicle owners didn’t lock their doors.

Over three years later, I read about another outbreak of home and vehicle burglaries. 15 in the last two weeks. In 14 of these cases, people had left their doors unlocked.

I am awakened some five minutes before my alarm was set, by the imaginary sound of the phone ringing. The phone didn’t ring, but something in my mind imagined that it was ringing. This is a very common experience for me on GC courses. I have been awakened by imagined/dreamed clock alarms, watch alarms, ringing phones, doorbells and even the sound of someone knocking on a door. None of these are “real”, and nobody in the house seems to have ever heard them.

I was pleasantly surprised to find my legs swinging over the edge of the bed to get the body out. And that was the experience – the body got itself out of bed, regardless of my thoughts and feelings.

At work, I am overloaded. There is way too much assigned to me. The challenge is to communicate this without negativity.

End of my three month commitment, definitely not a finish or completion. Looking back, it seems that I fell short of most of my aims. Mark’s arrival 10 days in to the commitment definitely had a significant effect. His care became the dominant event of these three months and the focus of our household. Until the end I avoided writing about it, both because I did not have words to describe it, and because to do so felt like a violation of his privacy. But I found it difficult to focus on any other topics, and difficult to get into any kind of habit or routine with posting under the circumstances. This is what I will need to concentrate on going forward.

I feel a clear necessity to re-up for another three months, as there is much unfinished business to attend to.