Hi, if you are somehow still reading this blog which has been dormant for many years. Thank you for your support then and now!
I just published an article I wrote for Medium and Substack, and I welcome comments and questions here. Since I published here I did publish another novel, In the Flat Field. I am now working on a new memoir/novel.
Greetings from...Blogger?
Carry on!
Charles
Wow I still have a blog here. I am going to post this now, which is also on Substack and Medium:
As a writer, artist, dad, sales person, spiritual seeker, I have done a lot of things I can offer to people are are struggling. I have written novels and poetry, made lots of visual art, but I also like to coach and mentor people, especially young people, people of color, men, people are are struggling with addictions and mental illness, like I did, to help them get better but also go to the next level of success, contentment, and/or happiness. (I am not a therapist).
One thing I would like to do is to publish a book that is a guide to journaling and mindfulness. I am a certified mindfulness life coach. I also started journaling every day and meditating on a pretty regular basis when I was a teenager.
As part of Gen X I am now 54 and so that is now a few decades of these practices. I took a break from meditation from say 1989 to 1995 when I was really into drinking and other things, but I probably wrote every day, in my journal, notebook, or writing fiction and poetry. I would say the writing, partly the journaling, is what kept me alive in those years.
I don’t think you have to be a serious or professional writer to benefit from keeping a journal or notebook. I also don’t think you need to write every day or write more than a few words. Some people don’t have the time or energy to write or meditate every day. Imagine asking a single mom to write a page or more every day in her journal, or someone like me with problems concentrating or PTSD, to meditate every day for 40 minutes. It’s nice to have goals and sometimes we are able to write pages of stuff until our hands hurt. Sometimes I can sit and meditate for 30-40 minutes and that’s great.
But being able to use walking, running, or other stuff related to mindfulness is not only really cool but very much in line with what the Buddha taught as shown in the earliest Pali teachings. Although I started by learning a formal Zen practice from Japan - zazen, which suited me as a teen, it’s not the best start for everyone. (I am not a Buddhist teacher, in any formal or approved sense.)
I love to coach and mentor, I can take on new clients (surprise) and I could invite you to sign up for a horrible email pyramid scheme, watch my free video, download my free ebook etc. But I won’t! You can buy my books, which are novels, or just contact me if you have any questions. I will chat for free and hopefully publish a follow-up to this soon (probably free, no pyramids).
This book could be a good place to start for meditation for you: Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind
I would say get a pen or pencil and a notebook to start writing about your feelings, how you feel, or just what you did today. What did you do today that your are proud of? What are you grateful for?
Today I got up and took my daughter to school, came home and worked. I went to the gym. I am grateful for my amazing 10 year old daughter who is thriving in school now. We are very fortunate.
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