It's Might Be Scary Out There . . .

I’m getting “in to” Yoga. I have all the paraphernalia. A groovy pair of yoga pants.

Not this kind . . .

Not this kind . . .

This kind. . .

Nephew-in-law, Jake, gifted me with them last Christmas,

Nephew-in-law, Jake, gifted me with them last Christmas,

Black ankle-high yoga socks with tiny traction bumps on the bottom, a neon green constriction shirt which holds it all in while I bend.

and I’m thinking about growing my hair out into dreadlocks and cashing in air miles for a ticket to an ashram . . .

and I’m thinking about growing my hair out into dreadlocks and cashing in air miles for a ticket to an ashram . . .

Eagle pose is like having to go to the bathroom really bad, and are trying to hold it while not getting your foot dirty. . . not pretty or easy.

Eagle pose is like having to go to the bathroom really bad, and are trying to hold it while not getting your foot dirty. . . not pretty or easy.

One of Catherine’s recent ponder points was from “bestselling author, poet, philosopher” Mark Nepo’s book:

THE BOOK OF AWAKENING: HAVING THE LIFE YOU WANT BY BEING PRESENT TO THE LIFE YOU HAVE.

THE BOOK OF AWAKENING: HAVING THE LIFE YOU WANT BY BEING PRESENT TO THE LIFE YOU HAVE.

Nepo tells of a guy “Robert” who dumped his fish into a bathtub of water so he could clean their tank.

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When Robert came back to retrieve the fish from the tub, “he was astonished to find that, though they had the entire tub to swim in, they were huddled in a small area the size of their tank. There was nothing containing them, nothing holding them back. Why wouldn’t they dart about freely?

I AM JUST LIKE THOSE BATHTUB FISH?????!! 

But why?

But why?

Do I follow the rules, stay inside the lines, rely on learned behavior, swim the same circles around and around and around and around and around—in life and in my work—because it’s best . . .  Or because it’s easiest?

Because it’s smart . . . or because the alternative is unknown?

Because it’s safe. . .

. . . because I’m lazy?

 . . . scared to make mistakes?

Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
— Albert Einstein
How many times, in how many copies of NOT NORMAN have I written “Think Outside the Bowl!” 

How many times, in how many copies of NOT NORMAN have I written “Think Outside the Bowl!” 

"Think outside the bowll" . . . It’s high time I did.

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As they say in the song: "Now that my life is so prearrange/I know it's time for a cool change."

Care to join me? Dare YOU! Dare ME!