When my son and my niece commented recently about this blog being on hiatus and how they missed it, I took it as the best sign in a series of signs that I should try again to generate the motivation it takes to do this regularly. (Thanks, Benji and Laura!) I'm not making any promises, but I am going to give it another try. Let's say it's part of the mindfulness practice I'm starting.

According to Wikipedia, mindfulness plays a central role in the teaching of Buddhist Meditation where it is affirmed that "correct" or "right" mindfulness is the critical factor in the path to liberation and subsequent enlightenment. My understanding of it is "paying attention to everything I'm doing and why I'm doing it." I have a habit of putting my mind in cruise control and not really thinking about what I'm doing or why.

Now, before my Christian friends start praying for a soul that has strayed too far from her fundamentalist roots, let me assure you that this soul is still Christian and practices her faith every Sunday at St. Philip's Episcopal Church and every day with prayer and meditation. She's not quite as fundamentalist as she was in her Baptist days, but still fairly orthodox by Anglican standards.

With that said, however, I must tell you that exploring the psychology of Buddhism has opened new vistas of understanding into how the mind works that I never got in my somewhat limited study of psychology and my more substantial study of the Bible and Christrine doctrine. Information about all these subjects is easily accessed on the internet and much of it is free. Most days find me reading articles that interest me and listening to lectures and music, all  while playing computer games, fooling with Facebook, performing household chores, and caring for my disabled husband. Sounds quite ADD, doesn't it? Yeah, I'm that, too.

Actually, it was the ADD and my inability to focus and concentrate that led me to the subject of Buddhism; that, and my problem with Destructive Emotions.  And for now, as Forrest Gump said, "that's all I have to say about that." There will be more.