August 16, 2010, Day 5

Still a bit sleepy I open my e-mail. Day 5's challenge it to distinguish between attention and intention. Attention is where I direct my energy, intention is what I want to create with that directed energy. Imagine that a friend and I are having dessert. I happen to love strawberries and they bring about fond memories from when I was a child. My friend, however, is allergic to strawberries and gets an awful rash when she eats them. The dessert that is served to us turns out to be strawberries. My reaction is "Yum!", while my friend cries out in agony that she doesn't want to eat them. Both our attention is on the strawberries. My intention is a good one, my friend's a negative. They are still the same strawberries though.

I sit straight up against the couch. I have found it to be a comfortable spot, as long as my back is not completely healed. Davidji's voice streams out of my laptop. He explains the attention/intention concept. Thereupon, he starts to name different items. I direct my attention to the words and choose my intention. I create either a "Yum" or a "Yuck", depending on the item and, more importantly, my intention. The words come in a random variety: clouds "Yum", small dogs "Yum", the color blue "Yum", the ocean "Yum", giraffes "Yum", cell phones "Yum or maybe yuck..", sunshine "Yum", cold "Well, yum in the summer and yuck in the winter..". I realize that every item is not intrinsically "yum" or "yuck". The small dogs can be "yuck" when they bark all the time. The cell phone is "yuck" when someone is talking on it while driving and causes an accident. Davidji continues with his list: apple, beer, tequila, waterfall, change in your pocket. I notice that I don't want to continue labeling all these words. It is so clear to me that it is just my projection that makes them either "yum" or "yuck". I actually stop doing it.

I focus om my breathing and let Davidji talk in the background. I feel like I am floating and somehow I find myself reaching for the So Hum mantra. Then, I hear Davidji suggesting to go back to the So Hum mantra. I guess I am making progress. Again, I find the So Hum meditation to be too short. Maybe I'll do some more later in the day! I think I am really under the meditation spell now. For sure, I will be there with Davidji tomorrow morning.

Stay tuned.
Marije