President Hinckley said "There is yet another interest that you must look after as you look forward in your lives. You need time to meditate and ponder, to think, to wonder at the great plan of happiness that the Lord has outlined for His children." Why would a prophet say something like this? Is there a reason that we should stop all we are doing and take a moment to listen to our bodies? When you think about what meditation entails it becomes a boring subject. Sitting on a cushion as motionless as possible and connecting with the breath is not always the most comfortable thing for a student. We want to be moving and doing. Why then is meditation given such a strong recommendation among the priesthood brethren?

Looking at it from a different point of view. The human mind has around 70,000 thoughts throughout the day. That sounds completely overwhelming. When we think of the many uses of the brain and how often it is used the magnitude of just how amazing it is really starts to sink in. Why therefore are we unwilling to give it a rest? Could it be that being still is uncomfortable? The hardest things sometimes are the best. Especially when it comes to learning how to be quiet enough to hear the still small voice. I believe that meditation is the key to a very personal prayer. We tend to spend a lot of time talking and maybe not enough time listening. What would happen if after the morning prayers we took a break to just sit and get to know God in that still and quiet space? The moment of truth comes when walking into darkness we find the light that God promises. I believe in doing this small thing it gives us the opportunity to be closer to God.

When is a good time to meditate?

Today in my Acting 1 class I sat in a cirlce with my classmates who have become my friends over the past two months. We started class with a prayer and then moved our seats to the sides of the classroom so that we could have space to lie down and practice mindfulness. What happened in the 5-10 minute span of time we meditated was different for everyone in the class but the truth in it was palpable. One student raised her hand after the session and said that she used the practice of mindfulness to be able to understand the anxiety around a new situation she was put in. Another student spoke of her body wanting to constantly move and that her mind was racing as well and yet another said that she noticed her body was telling her to eat better. How did these feelings and thoughts and new abilities become available to each student? The truth is that there is power in sitting and being with onesself. It is difficult and sometimes painful but it can be the deciding factor in letting you choose how you will relate to your life. Is it easier to ignore the mind as it races with thoughts galore? Some would say that meditation is a waste of time. How is becoming more tuned in to the human experience on a daily basis a waste of time? Answer me that. Meditation is tool that you can use right now.

Meditation for a better life!

This is my first entry for New testament on gospel  principles. The topic? Meditation. You might wonder what the word meditation means in context with the bible and book of Mormon. Does it ever say anything about meditation or mindfulness in those pages? I believe they do speak of it though not in the same words. Take a moment to think of times when you have meditated. If you can’t think of any off the top of your head, when did you pray last? Prayer is a form of meditation. If you take time to listen to God speak after you pray that is considered a meditative state. I know that meditation is important and can be a huge blessing in the lives of those who practice it. This is President David O. McKay’s thoughts on meditation.  “I think we pay too little attention to the value of meditation, a principle of devotion.  In our worship there are two elements: one is spiritual communion rising from our own meditation; the other instruction from others, particularly from those who have authority to guide and instruct us.  Of the two, the more profitable introspectively is meditation.  Meditation is the language of the soul.  Meditation is a form of prayer.  We can say prayers without having any spiritual response.  Meditation is one of the most secret, most sacred doors through which we pass into the presence of the Lord." ("Consciousness of God: Supreme Goal of Life," [President David O. McKay, 1967 General Conference Address, Improvement Era, June 1967, pp. 80-82])

Too much

Today I woke up in less pain than the day before. I was so grateful for that. It's not easy some days. I hate sounding like the woe is me, my life is too painful sort. Right now I feel like in my mind that is all I do. Complain about the lot I've been given. Last night as I was heading to bed and wondering just what to do about current situation (major issues with chronic pain) I had the distinct impression that maybe I am pushing too hard. The reality started to sink in that Christ took upon himself all the sins and even physical pain we would experience on this earth. I started trying to wrap my mind around that. If that's true then why am I still in pain? Do I not have enough faith?

I figure in my mind that there must be a reason. Kind of like the story of Christ not coming till the fourth watch. The disciples were in a terrible storm and had been fighting the waves for quite some time when it became increasingly hard to go on. Christ walked out to them during the fourth watch. Maybe that's whats happening? I need some help right now. There is too much going on in my life and my mind feels like it is racing to keep up with everything but falling short. As much as I want to be positive and uplifting for everyone who reads this blog, I kinda just need to drop that expectation of myself. I'm here and I'm trying and depression and pain are real. It sucks to say that. Wouldn't it be nice if we were all happy all the time? Or would that be worse because we wouldn't know what unhappiness and a pain filled life are like to contrast it?

Just some thoughts on my mind today since I can't seem to concentrate enough to do homework.

It's been a while...

Yeah, I know. I've been distracted permanently. Is that the same as ADHD? Anyways, I doubt anyone will be reading this but for my own curiosity I decided to write up a little post. I redesigned because I was bored and I like intense colors. I'm also very tired so this will be short. All I need is an answer to a question open to everyone. What brings you joy? Go!

The past few weeks I have been so busy doing work and hanging out with friends and being occupied with stuff that isn't school related that I haven't thought to write. I'll try to play catchup.

Today was a typical Friday. I run the front desk on this day. What that means is I take down all the tours and check guests in as they arrive for the Behind the Seeds Tour. While I am at the front desk I answer our guests questions. The number one question I get asked without fail every 5 minutes is "Where do I get a Fast Pass?" If you don't know what a Fast Pass is then the simple answer is that it is Disney's way of reserving a place in line for you so that you can come back at a later time and not spend up to 50 minutes in the queue for Soarin. The ride Soarin is a simulated glider experience over the state of California. It's a pretty fun ride for the first time but waiting longer than 20 minutes for it is really not the best way to utilize your time in the park. People who know how to do Disney right use the Fast Pass system. I also help people out with other things like pin trading. Just google Disney pin trading. This is probably one of the biggest things that

I do tour desk 4 hours and then have a lunch and do some work in my greenhouse. I only had an hour to do any work in my greenhouse so not much got done today. I had a tour at 3 and it was packed. After the tour I helped my co worker with some composting that needed to be done. Finally I had the rest of the day free. I headed over to Hollywood Studios to meet up with some co workers and we went straight to the drawing studio. They do a step by step walk through on how to draw Disney characters. We drew Tigger today. Gotta love it! After the drawing we walked around to all the characters and got our pictures taken. My favorite had to be when we came to Pinnocio. I asked him if he liked my drawing of Tigger. He shook his head in dissaproval. I was shocked and then he pointed as if to say that we should draw him. Well then he took my coworker by the hand and walked us over to the drawing studio and banged on the door for them to let us in so he could explain that we needed to draw him. We were laughing! It was one of those moments. You just gotta love Disney. Then we took pictures with a few more characters. Somehow I upset Fantasia Mickey, you know, the Sorcerer's Apprentice. Well he started doing his hocus pocus with me like he did with the brooms. I think he was trying to shrink me. Yeah, we just laughed. I really need to spend more time in the parks. Well I know it's short but I'm not one for long posts. Especially since I need to do some shopping. Have a great weekend.

Monday

So today is Monday and thank goodness I have it off. I've got a nasty cold. It was creeping up on me last week at work but this weekend it hit full force. I guess I was working myself to hard.

Last week literally flew past me. I hardly remember all the details. To give you a little background on what I am doing here right now I'll explain a typical day. I usually start my day out pretty early waking up at 5:50. I get ready, eat breakfast and make lunch and then I'm out the door at 6:40. It takes me upwards of 20 min to get to EPCOT from my house. Considering that Disney is literally right across the street from my home I actually enter the park a minute or so after I leave the house. The rest of my drive to EPCOT is actually a drive through the park. It's that huge!

Once I get to work I park in the cast parking area and walk through cast services, the park and then to the greenhouses. Lately the mornings have been pretty cold but I don't mind too much. I think I've already acclimated to the weather here though. Pretty bummed about that. I thought I could handle cold fairly well and I'm already a wimp when it comes to cold weather here.

I start work by checking the board for the day to see what needs to be done in my area. I then take the cucumbers we use to sample to our guests on tour to the kitchen where they prepare little baggies full of fresh cucumbers. Then I head to my greenhouse. The first week we were here each of us received responsibility over certain greenhouses. Mine is the string greenhouse also known as the production greenhouse. This is good because my emphasis is actually production so I get to use a lot of what I've already learned at school and apply it here. That is, if I can remember it all. ha ha. I'm so glad I worked in the hydroponics greenhouse while I was at school. It has already helped me so much with making work more efficient.

So I start by cleaning my greenhouse really well. I blow all the dead plant leaves and dirt off and spray with water if I need to. Then I check all the signs and make sure that everything is in its proper place and well the list goes on but I don't want to bore you all with minute details. After I get opening finished I can start on the projects for the day. We like to call our projects parties. That way other people will want to come and help. right? :) Just this week we had an NFT party. I bet you're curious what that means. Well, NFT stands for Nutrient Film Technique. We have a system of growing our lettuce using a film of water that is infused with nutrients. The system looks a bit like this:

So the water is moving down these gutter like rows and hits each of the lettuce roots. Well the lettuce takes about 6 weeks to grow and then we harvest it. Harvesting 500 heads of lettuce is much easier when you have help hence, NFT Parties! It takes about an hour or so to harvest the lettuce, clean the system up and put the new lettuce in its place. We're getting better at it each time. 

Some of the smaller projects that I get to do are training the bell peppers or the cucumbers. When I say training I don't mean like training a dog. I mean using string and clips to train the branches. It's actually quite interesting. I may elaborate on this more in a future post. 

Usually our days from 7:30 up till 4 are pretty busy and there really isn't a free moment. I like it that way. The time goes by pretty fast and I learn something new every minute. Feels like my brain might explode at times but I'm really glad to be here and especially right now. I think the best part about working for Disney is that everyone here is really happy and friendly. From our guests to coworkers, everyone is very pleasant to work with. It really is safe to say that Disney World is one of the happiest places on earth. Every day I leave work I get to walk through the park. It still can't walk through this place without a big smile on my face. It's pretty awesome.