J. Parrish Lewis

I have practiced yoga on and off for years now. Gaps in between practice can last anywhere from a day to months. Lately I’ve been wanting to give it a little more attention. For me, it’s not about exercise. I get more exercise going for a run or being a gym rat. Yoga’s a spiritual practice where I try to remind myself of my connection to God. Yoga, after all, means union. Mind, body, spirit, God. You can treat it like exercise or a practice to improve flexibility and strength, which is completely fine, but I find it more enriching to focus on the spiritual aspect. Recently I had that little breakthough where I realized that just making sure I am fully present in the moment is enough to get that reminder that I seek.

Whether it’s 1 minute or 1 hour, being present in yoga practice makes it really worthwhile. Rather than being preoccupied with what I can’t do and thus throwing my mind into a future where I’d be able to do it, it’s better to focus on what I can do. In this moment, this is who I am.

Flawed and inflexible, but nevertheless making the attempt.

I wish I could say I already had the focus I need to change my life the way I want to change it, but I don’t, exactly. I have the intent. Intentions are worthwhile, after all, and hopefully we do small actions daily with that intent. Otherwise it seems empty.

I’ve changed the tagline on my blog to try and give this site a little more focus:

The Pursuit Of A Life Well-Lived

This means I am reaching for the general goal of living my life well. I want to look back on my life and feel satisfied with how I lived it. And more immediate: I’d like to be able to look back on my day, at the end of each evening, and feel I gave that day what I could. I did my best to make it mostly worthwhile. I won’t say perfect. I’m not striving for perfection. The pursuit of perfection sounds exhausting, unrealistic, and somehow meaningless.

A life well-lived, for me, means:

• That the majority of my waking hours were spent doing worthwhile things, even if that means sitting still and breathing intentionally.
• That I give more time to personal connections that I cherish, than to superficial e-connections online. This doesn’t mean we can’t have meaningful connections online, it’s just not the norm. The norm, to be honest, is paper-thin relationships that don’t enrich our days.
• That I continuously strive to do my best, be my best, and still accept myself where I am in the moment.
• That my words, my thoughts, my actions, and my beliefs are unified, that they seem to be the same exact thing.
• That I accept that I will change. Hopefully good changes, but again, no one’s perfect.
• That I am true to myself.
• That I follow the Buddha’s advice to be like a lamp shining on myself. And that I don’t shy away from what I see, but instead be open to progress.
• That I remember how a collection of small actions can be just as important as major accomplishments. We don’t need to define ourselves largely by the big things we achieve. Small things count, too. Because a day will come when we’re gone, when someone sees evidence of the lives we lived, and those small things will be noticed and remembered.

Just made a batch of falafel mix from scratch, which I haven’t done before. I’ll cook it in an hour, and hopefully it’ll taste halfway decent. At the moment, it looks confused about what it’s supposed to be. We’ll see.

This is my latest attempt to learn something new to make, that’s healthy and not pre-made processed stuff from a store.

Lately I’ve felt the need to shift how I eat towards more whole foods. I still enjoy all that processed food, honestly. I enjoy the taste and the convenience of junk food and fast food and processed food with too many ingredients. But it’s not healthy and I know it. [Read more →]