Tenacity Notes

#137

This week, don’t do anything unkind. Don’t think unkind thoughts, or say unkind words, or do unkind actions.

Pay special attention to your thoughts. Don’t harbor unkind thoughts about your spouse/partner, or your boss, or your neighbor, or your siblings, or your kids, or anyone. Including yourself.

Say you catch yourself with an unkind thought — what will you do instead? I don’t know. Take a deep breath. Drink a glass of water. Think about something else all together. Sing a song. Make amends.

Let me know how it goes.

#136

This week, do what you love; love what you do; drink plenty of water.

#135

This is a news and information Note.

Mostly you had an easy time listening to Tenacity Notes, even those of you who have slow internet. That’s good to know. You were enthusiastic about being able to hear as well as read the Notes. That’s good to know, too. And you sent me lots of links for ways I can get the recording onto my Tenacity Notes wordpress page. Thank you.

When I get to a location where I have good wi-fi, I’ll begin experimenting with getting it done. Learning to do new things on the computer is not something I do for enjoyment, but I’ll make an effort. Until then, I’ll continue recording each Note and attaching it into the body of the email. Then you can listen or not, as you please. I’m curious to see how will evolve. Please don’t stop sending suggestions.

We’ve arrived in Minneapolis from Texas, and we’ll be here for a few days. The plan is to get to the Duluth area on the 20th, and to remain up north, either Duluth or someplace on the Iron Range, until October.

As always, I’m available for in-person readings wherever I am. And as always, I’m available for phone readings. You can call or email me to schedule a reading. 612-965-9708, jett@mm.com

Have I told you that I value your referrals? I do. Word of mouth is how people hear about me. Thank you.

#134

I could use some help.

I have been asked to record Tenacity Notes. Some people’s eyes don’t like the computer screen, and some people want to hear my voice. There are other reasons in the background, something about people submitting questions and me answering them by voice, as if in a reading or a class. Answers that would be useful to the collective, not just the individual. But that’s somewhere in the future. For now, here’s my first effort – last week’s Tenacity Notes with a recorded version included.

I don’t think doing it this way, embedded in an email, is a good solution. It takes a long time for it to send, and probably a long time for you to receive it, and this one’s only a few sentences long. Imagine if it was several paragraphs.

I have a WordPress Tenacity Notes site, (http://tenacitynotes.com/) and there must be a way to add the recorded version to those postings. But I don’t know how to do it. And I doubt that I have the skills to figure it out. If any of you know how to do a podcast on WordPress, or on iTunes for that matter, and you’d like to help me, please get in touch. I’m not asking for professional help because I don’t have the money for that. But I’d happily trade readings for your assistance. Let me know.

Someone who I mentioned this to suggested that I use YouTube, and have video, not just audio. Well, maybe. Video of me – that’s a bit of an edge for me! I wonder if I could add video to my WordPress site. My 11-year-old nephew makes YouTube videos. I’ll talk to him.

What do you think? I would very much like your feedback. Thanks.

In the meantime, here’s Tenacity Notes #134. It’s the same as #133, but with the addition of a recording of me reading it.

#132

Do you notice what’s wrong with you? Are you aware of what needs fixing? Do you have plans for your betterment?

What if you loved yourself as you are? Try it. This week, any time you get the urge to pay attention to aspects of you that need improvement, switch to paying attention to yourself with appreciation.

Are you still breathing for 15 minutes twice a day? It’s the same with your breathing. Don’t use your awareness to improve your breath, use your awareness to appreciate it.

This week, with yourself and your breath, just dig it!

#131

I stalk beliefs. I lurk around the corners of my mind, listening to what I think and to what I say, ready to pounce on a belief when it appears. When I catch one, I investigate it. Becoming as open and undefended as I can, I try the belief on. What is its purpose? How does it feel in/on my body?

Their purpose, it seems to me, is to make me feel safe, to make me feel less bewildered about life. But I have found that having a belief feels something like being encased in cotton batting, sticky cotton batting. They inhibit my breath, they cling to my skin, they make me feel energetically murky.

I don’t know what the purpose of life is, I don’t know why any of us is a living creature on this planet. It’s entirely possible that the purpose of life is to feel safe. But I think not. Safety takes up space that could be occupied by glory, by wonder, by awe, by curiosity. Glory, wonder, awe, joy, endless possibility — they feel spacious, airy, bright. There is no contest — they feel way better than sticky cotton batting.

So I stalk beliefs, and I’m glad when I catch one because then I can choose whether or not to keep it.

#130

Regarding last week’s Notes, a reader wrote:

“May your spring bring much beauty as we try and weather all the craziness – I fear the Supreme Court ruling on the health care plan, my synagogue board choice for an assistant rabbi, the war in Syria, summer heat…  Life always calls for trust trust and more trust. The spring birds have been a balm.”

Late Sunday evening, April fools day, walking in the State Park where I live, I came upon a lone playing card in the grass: Joker. Which to me corresponds with the Fool of tarot. The Fool: wonder; spontaneity; faith; apparent folly.

Truly, will wonder never cease?