Strike Day

It's surprising how quick
A little rain can clear the streets

I always think of that Billy Bragg line if I'm out when it's just started to rain. Sure enough, the first time I left the house today it started to rain and I was surprised all over again how quickly a little rain can clear the Promenade.

Today was a strike day and I was so grateful for a day that I could stay in bed so I did just that. All day. I didn't get out until 4 pm. Bliss! I spent part of the day reflecting on how automatic it's become for me to just do things; tidying, emails, bits and bobs of errands. One of the reasons I love meditation is that it's a chance to just be instead of do. I've learned I need to bring a bit more of that to the rest of my life. Hey, learning is good.

Being in bed all day didn't stop me from going to my Buddhism class. Tonight was the third of four lessons and I'll miss this 'instant sangha' when it's over. Tonight's lesson was in mudita bhavana, the cultivation of sympathetic joy. We spoke of some recent joy we had - what a delightful exercise! I think I'm really going to enjoy this practice.

Thank you to everyone for their encouragement for my forays into the world of portraiture. Some of you very kindly said they would still like to see sky and water, which surprised me a little that they didn't say 'sea' but rather 'water'. So here is sky and water!

And for those of you, like me, still humming that song in your heads, here's a live version, many years later.

:-)