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Thanks to a couple of throwaway comments the blue fox made to me this morning, I've been learning about all sorts of interesting linguistic stuffs. Like the accusative case. Apparently we don't have one of these in English any more. We've also lost the dative case, though it survives tenaciously in a few dark corners of the language.
"Methinks," for example, which basically means "it seems to me." "Me" is the dative form of "I," while "think" is a sort of cousin of "seem" in old English. That's...damned cool. It makes me want to use the word as an indirect "Save the Dative Case!" rally, but I don't think I could get away with it without sounding like a complete and utter yutz.
Work is mostly fine, though there are a few causes for worry and/or frustration. Perhaps it's because I've applied (and interviewed!) somewhere else, and I've been waiting for an answer about that all week, but this week in particular has been very difficult to get through. The acres of cookbooks and the crush of personnel and operations changes might have something to do with that, though.
Writing has stalled yet again, and I've been trying to find ways to get it going again. There are things that are definitely killing momentum, and a great deal of them are directly my fault. Time, alas, doesn't quite permit me to go into what they are, but...I need to have a stronger willpower than I do, let's say.
I'm trying continually to be more present. Part of this is training for my prospective job, which requires a professional and courteous demeanor at all times. It's forced me to pay attention to how I interact with customers at Bookbuyers, especially in the afternoons and evenings, when I'm more likely to be tired and a bit less careful. Attempting to be perpetually present is also *really* helpful when I'm taking on new projects; actively willing myself to shed the mental baggage of a particularly trying job (like, say, packing about two hundred cookbooks onto an already full shelf) makes each new job easier to deal with. Even if it's essentially the same thing (putting too many new books in an already full space), it feels like I'm coming at it for the first time. Which makes it easier to focus on, say, getting the job done. It makes a difficult day significantly better.
Still, I'm being a horrid Buddhist in all sorts of ways. I can't seem to get around to meditating every day, even for five and ten minutes. When I remember, I try to make walking to and from bus stops a sort of kinhin, but just sitting is something I always have trouble with. Again, the willpower comes in. I just don't have it. And I don't think I've stumbled upon a successful way of acquiring it. I don't want help with it, because...well, I should be responsible for my own improvement, right? It's kind of cheating relying on others to force me into being a better person. I'm starting to think about 'solidifying' my practice in some way, either by joining a sangha or taking the precepts personally (which would mean...well, nothing, but being more mindful), or...something.
Now, work.
"Methinks," for example, which basically means "it seems to me." "Me" is the dative form of "I," while "think" is a sort of cousin of "seem" in old English. That's...damned cool. It makes me want to use the word as an indirect "Save the Dative Case!" rally, but I don't think I could get away with it without sounding like a complete and utter yutz.
Work is mostly fine, though there are a few causes for worry and/or frustration. Perhaps it's because I've applied (and interviewed!) somewhere else, and I've been waiting for an answer about that all week, but this week in particular has been very difficult to get through. The acres of cookbooks and the crush of personnel and operations changes might have something to do with that, though.
Writing has stalled yet again, and I've been trying to find ways to get it going again. There are things that are definitely killing momentum, and a great deal of them are directly my fault. Time, alas, doesn't quite permit me to go into what they are, but...I need to have a stronger willpower than I do, let's say.
I'm trying continually to be more present. Part of this is training for my prospective job, which requires a professional and courteous demeanor at all times. It's forced me to pay attention to how I interact with customers at Bookbuyers, especially in the afternoons and evenings, when I'm more likely to be tired and a bit less careful. Attempting to be perpetually present is also *really* helpful when I'm taking on new projects; actively willing myself to shed the mental baggage of a particularly trying job (like, say, packing about two hundred cookbooks onto an already full shelf) makes each new job easier to deal with. Even if it's essentially the same thing (putting too many new books in an already full space), it feels like I'm coming at it for the first time. Which makes it easier to focus on, say, getting the job done. It makes a difficult day significantly better.
Still, I'm being a horrid Buddhist in all sorts of ways. I can't seem to get around to meditating every day, even for five and ten minutes. When I remember, I try to make walking to and from bus stops a sort of kinhin, but just sitting is something I always have trouble with. Again, the willpower comes in. I just don't have it. And I don't think I've stumbled upon a successful way of acquiring it. I don't want help with it, because...well, I should be responsible for my own improvement, right? It's kind of cheating relying on others to force me into being a better person. I'm starting to think about 'solidifying' my practice in some way, either by joining a sangha or taking the precepts personally (which would mean...well, nothing, but being more mindful), or...something.
Now, work.
