The Wheel of Technology

My foot is stuck in the samsaric wheel of technology. I’ve been meaning to write this entry for a while on iPod Touch v. Steno Pad, but now I see the wheel is stronger and more inevitable as I find myself needing to buy an Adobe Creative Suite.

iPod Touch v. Steno Pad

For many years I’ve been happily using a steno pad to keep my list of things to do. I even have a steno pad system.

1. Write everything down one sheet of the pad.
2. Cross things off as the are completed (very satisfying).
3. When that sheet becomes too jumbled up with crossed out things, copy the unfinished items onto a new sheet and add additional items
4. Repeat.

This is a good system, but it has some draw backs namely all the different activities I do in different locations. I need to keep in order what I need to accomplish in my studio, at the studio at Loyola, household things, and then there are the things I want to buy, which happens at stores, like what materials I need to buy for my studio, groceries, gifts, etc. I could easily make a list of my lists. Also the steno pad cannot talk to my online calendar that organizes my social life, my two jobs, and collaborates with my husband’s calendar. My online calendar is wonderful because I can access it at both my jobs, at home, if I’m visiting my parents, anywhere I can get on the internet. I cannot get on the internet at my studio and my steno pad cannot get on the internet anywhere.

My lists and my calendar are very interrelated. I was perfectly happy living in this “quagmire” until I was dazzled by my colleague's iPod Touch. Its does almost everything an iPhone does, but doesn’t have a huge monthly price tag. I can sync it to my online calendar, access it and update it even without wifi. It can keep many beautiful lists all at my finger tips, on which I can actually cross out my accomplished items, just like on paper. Furthermore I can check my email at a cafe, look up google maps, and of course listen to music and podcasts. This is it! This will be the tool that will make my life run so well it will be near perfection. HA!

How many times have I said that? iPod Touch will not solve all my problems, it will create as many new problems as it solves. My steno pad doesn’t need software upgrades and enjoy the slower pace of writing by hand. How mindfully will I use the iPod Touch? But, yet I know, soon I will make the switch. I know it is inevitable, I am just waiting for the next upgraded model to be released.

Meditation Retreat

I recently attended my first ever week long meditation retreat at The Atlanta Shambhala Center. This week long retreat was an Art Weekthun. Weekthun is a week long program based on the traditional Tibetan month long retreat Dathun. The art part of this meditation retreat was not the reason I choose this Weekthun over the others being offered this summer, I choose this one because of scheduling between my husband and I and because we could drive there. However this program was really perfect for me in all my practices, meditation, teaching and making.

The Atlanta Shambhala Center which hosted this Art Weekthun was so much more beautiful, grand, comprehensive and impressive then I could have ever expected. Their center and facilities are so wonderful, they are now being called an Urban Land Center. In about the past seven years they bought wonderful land with two buildings on it, built a large and beautiful new meditation hall, and acquired a guest house. I could not recommend doing a program there enough. I had such a great time, they are so friendly and wonderful it was just great.

The Art Weekthun was an interesting program consisting mostly of sitting meditation, but also interlaced with different art practices meant to be executed as a continuation of meditation practice. This was my first exposure to Dharma Arts. I found the form and the approach to be a great way to remind me of how my own art practice is a type of meditation practice. Getting into the “zone” or “flow” is the basic joy of making. The Dharma Arts we practiced there are like a direct connect to that place.

The Dharma Arts approach, for me, was at first too simple, but as I stayed with it, rather then being a know-it-all in my mind, I realized that within this simple approach was some of what I’ve been missing in my teaching. I needed to see and do very simple exercises to realize how I could connect and engage my students more. This lead to a conversation with Lance Brunner about my interest in mindfulness or contemplative practice in higher education. More on this later....

Equally important was the sitting meditation. I really felt my practice deepen. I really began to see the gears of my mind, and my ego’s agenda. There were wonderful moments of understanding. I can’t wait to do another Weekthun, hopefully soon or maybe a Dathun.

This blog seems so short and inadequate compared to my experience there. I know that it will offer me more to learn as time passes.

art weekthun at atlanta shambhala center 2009

Fungi @ Atlanta Shambhala Center