A kitten that 'just' survived and a random masked guy in my friends yard at 2am.

I sat at the traffic lights near my house today ready to rush off down the highway to work as I usually do.  The cars to my right started to pull out into the intersection when I suddenly noticed a kitten, about 6 months old, running in tandem underneath the red car in the front of the line. 


Strangely the kitten managed to keep up with the red car till the point when it's spine hit the underside of the car causing it to somersault over itself. I put my hands to my face, hardly daring to look at the blood bath I expected to occur next, and gasped.


To my shock the kitten managed to get back on its feet and run out to the left of the car without getting hit by the back tire and continued to run alongside the cars following the red car into the intersection. The kitten looked around itself several times but continued running without getting hit until it reached the median divider and took refuge beside a street lamp.


I was shook up and could hardly believe that the kitten had made it. Then my light turned green and I drove off to work wishing I could have stopped to pick the kitten up and take it to the vet.


As I continued my drive to work, this nearly tragic event early this morning got me thinking about how out of control our lives become when we get into a car. We think we've got it sorted, but one wrong move and we could be ploughing into cars or people. We think so mindlessly about getting into a car and driving that it's only in situations like this that we see the frailty of life when it comes into contact with transportation.


The person driving the red car or people driving any of the cars following it were unlikely to know the cat was under their car or if the cat had been hit. It's also unlikely anyone but a devoted animal lover would have stopped to help the kitten, especially not if the kitten became road kill.


(There are many homeless cats and dogs here in Oman, which we call jebel or wadi cats/dogs (jebel = mountain/wadi = river bed in Arabic) and a good number end up as road kill.)


It really put into perspective the problems I've been having with road rage. Most of which stem from impatience at other drivers who don't respect the traffic laws or other drivers on the road. It also stems from a false sense of control and confidence that it is important to have when you get behind the wheel of the car. We've all seen drivers who are so fearful of the machine they are driving that they end up causing traffic problems.


I think it's important to have confidence and feel in control of your actions behind the wheel, but also have respect for the fact that you can only have control if you stay focused and in control of your emotions. The emotional mind is not one we should be using while driving. 


Therefore in honor of the little kitten that managed to survive what must have been a horrible ordeal today, I vow to try much harder to stay calm while behind the wheel and make sure that I stay in control of not only the car but also my emotions while driving. 


Mindfulness is the answer!


Speaking of mindfulness, it is such an important thing for women to practice, especially if single and living alone. Last night a masked man was wandering about my friend's backyard. She is single and lives alone. The area she lives in is rather sketchy, and luckily she has a dog to keep the intruders away, but it's a reminder for women to always be mindful of their surroundings and make sure they are taking the measures required to keep themselves safe. There's just no saying who will pray on your weaknesses.


It's amazing the tenacity of character that is required to make it through the day!

Procrastination x 7

Tell us seven things you do when you procrastinate.


If it's a good day:


I get a snack, then I add a drink to my order. Then I'll turn on the TV just to see if Kendra is on, then I'll search the channels realizing there's nothing on and praying for a great On Demand movie, which there won't be. Following that I'll open every tab possible on Safari and Firefox just to see if anything interesting happened in the five minutes I was gone. Then I'll notice a dust bunny hopping quietly along the edge of the room and decide that the house really needs to be cleaned, like right NOW. Failing at all that as a means to procrastinate I'll wander the house sighing a lot in the hopes someone will engaged me in conversation as to why I'm sighing, at which point I can steer the conversation towards long, debatable topics.


If it's a bad day:


I'll stop, sit, breathe, watch my thoughts rising and then open up 750words and just let it all out. Before I know it I'll have written that 750, my procrastination will be squirming underneath me and I'll be well on my way to writing 8 more pages of my script or scribbling the beginnings of my novel.


I'd hate to think what I'd do if it was a terrible day! Bring them on!

My second 'cyber' self

I haven't written for several days now for the same reason I've been putting of my practice and my time on the mat.  I don't know why exactly because getting back on the mat today got me wanting to write again, although I'm still on sabbatical from meditation.


I guess it's a combination of things - wondering what I really want to write on this here blog/ wondering what my focus should be when I'm writing/ wondering how to complete my job responsibilities, study my online course, write my 750 words a day and still have time to write on here or simply just write the many projects I have going on right now.


My horoscope at the beginning of 2011 spoke about having too many plates to juggle, not that I see that as a negative, but simply allowing me to explore and hone in on what I'm really trying to achieve with my writing.


Through all this pondering @evbogue and @gwenbell have been keeping me moving forward and questioning what I'm really seeking online.  Recently, I've been overwhelmed with information from all sources and have been plugged in far too often and far too aimlessly.  


In terms of what I'm trying to achieve here I think my problem is that the blog I'm seeking to create doesn't really exist yet.  @gwenbell summed it up perfectly in her interview here that I took the time to really listen to today.  I don't want to have to button hole or cover up an aspect of myself that just doesn't 'fit' with what my second self is trying to achieve here.  I want to be open and vulnerable and be able to share all and everything that comes up, but the problem is figuring out how to achieve that on a scrolling page with a back dated archive.  Showing up at the first page doesn't necessarily portray what I'm all about, but then neither does a single one of my posts.  


I guess what I'm searching for is a 'free spirit' of a blog that morphs and changes as I morph and change without back dating these events as if I'm a history book to be learned and memorized.


Ultimately it doesn't really matter, it's more about exploring what I wish to put out into the world and I guess that right now the way the internet works we're still exploring how to do this more effectively and more efficiently.


Whatever happens my last idea of having 3 different blogs that showcase all the things I wish to write about truly proves how far down in the exploration trail I currently am.  But with the help of these revolutionary mindfully thinking folks I'm excited to see what starts to come up! 


If you're interested in the dialogue going on right now concerning mindful folks who're exploring how best to create and use their second self check out the dialogue going on on twitter by following all the people @evbogue and @gwenbell follow and subscribe to their blogs.  What they're exploring is truly fascinating.


Oh and I've got to start being a single spacer.  It's a learning curve!