[et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.0.98″ custom_padding=”7px|0px|49px|0px”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.0.98″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.0.98″ text_font_size=”18px” background_layout=”light”]<\/p>\n
Last Sunday something so beautiful happened, it fueled my entire week!<\/p>\n
I looked at my phone to check if it was time for me to cook dinner, and it was only 2:31 pm. \u201cThat can\u2019t be!\u201d I thought. I had gone to church, gotten donuts, had a nice breakfast with the kids, and took Blais shopping for bagels and a pair of pants. Somehow the time had stretched for me and, for the first time in a very long time, I felt unhurried, unstressed and unpressured. The day (and time) felt like eternity.<\/p>\n
I sat down in my (tidy) office to draw\/write some thank-you cards. (I cleaned my office last week after I wrote about willpower, motivation and self-discipline, lol.) There was a beautiful glow coming from a lamp next to me and music coming from our piano room. My two at-home sons were playing jazz. I had no idea they could play jazz!!! My middle son (Evan) showed my youngest (Blais) how to play some chord progression, while he improvised a melody\u2026<\/p>\n
I could see myself smiling from inside out. And I could feel this palpable wave of gratitude envelop my body\u2026 but it was all so calm\u2026 so deeply peaceful\u2026 None of it disturbed the day\u2026 I let it all flow, not latching onto it\u2026 without trying to control it with my desire to make it last longer, or to capture it\u2026 Or compare it with any memories\u2026<\/p>\n
When I described this to my therapist, I felt it all over again. I said: \u201cIt felt so sacred\u2026 so rich with peace and stillness.\u201d \u201cLike eternity?\u201d she asked\u2026 I smiled. \u201cYes\u2026 and like love, grace, peace, and God,\u201d I replied.<\/strong><\/p>\n Last week when I asked about topics to write on, Patricia sent this: She shared with me a \u201cSet of Disciplines\u201d she likes to use as a tool to achieve this balance\u2026 What Patricia meant is how we act in tricky situations: How do we disagree with someone and not get angry? How do we show kindness to someone who is verbally offending or even abusing us? How do we help others without exhausting ourselves in the process? Or even how do we have great jobs, accumulate material wealth and stay surrendered to God and love – instead of protecting our treasure? I\u2019m sure you can think of a hundred examples of this.<\/p>\n The \u201cSet of Disciplines\u201d she shared was a beautiful set of a Catholic version of Mindfulness practices.<\/p>\n It was constructed by French priest Fr. William Joseph Chaminade, who lived during the French Revolution of 1789. He called it the \u201cSystem of Virtues\u201d consistent with Five \u2018Silences.\u2019<\/p>\n I\u2019d actually call it a ‘Set of Mindfulness Practices’<\/strong> instead of ‘Virtues’ because ‘virtues’ may trigger doubt in my ability to actually do this – where discipline or practice is something I can develop.<\/p>\n In today\u2019s words, I also think Mindfulness is a better word than \u2018Silences.\u2019 With that in mind, here is the \u2018Set\u2019 that, yes I too believe can help us create that balance in life and experience the sense of peace, God\u2019s presence in our lives, and love.<\/p>\n MINDFULNESS OF WORDS<\/strong> – paying attention to what words we use – whether we are speaking to others or saying to ourselves \u201cI\u2019m stupid!\u201d is not constructive or life-giving, so if you wouldn\u2019t say it to your child, you shouldn\u2019t say it to yourself. Also, the word \u2018never\u2019 is a trap word – \u201cYou never help me!\u201d we may accuse someone, when we really mean \u201cI need your help.\u201d<\/p>\n MINDFULNESS OF SIGNS<\/strong> – being aware of signs that we give out with our body language or level of presence to each other. Sitting at lunch with someone and checking out your phone says, \u201cI have more important things to do than to visit with you.\u201d<\/p>\n MINDFULNESS OF THE MIND<\/strong> – \u2018the practice of filling our minds with life-giving thoughts and memories and letting go of those thoughts that cripple us\u2019 (I love this!)<\/p>\n MINDFULNESS OF IMAGINATION<\/strong> – \u2018helps us to dream dreams and reconfigure the possibilities for ourselves and the world\u2019 – and filter out worry and anxiety. Imagining your failure or the scenario that you fear the most over and over again can be very destructive.<\/p>\n MINDFULNESS OF PASSIONS<\/strong> – I don\u2019t like the word \u201cpassions\u201d here\u2026 but Patricia\u2019s little piece of paper with descriptions says: \u201cidentifying feelings and energies they evoke.\u201d Feelings are emotional reactions to people, places and things. Thoughts and memories also create emotional reactions in our body. Being mindful of these – observing them without judgment is what many therapists use in achieving a good balance of being\u2026 which then becomes a solid foundation for everything else in our lives – our relationships, our actions, our successes and our inner peace.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_divider show_divider=”on” _builder_version=”3.0.98″]<\/p>\n <\/p>\n [\/et_pb_divider][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row background_color=”rgba(0,0,0,0.1)” _builder_version=”3.0.98″][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”connect with me” _builder_version=”3.0.98″]<\/p>\n CONNECT WITH ME<\/strong><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_code _builder_version=”3.0.98″ text_orientation=”center” custom_margin=”|||370px”][et_social_follow icon_style=”flip” icon_shape=”rounded” icons_location=”top” col_number=”auto” outer_color=”dark”][\/et_pb_code][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.0.98″][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_code _builder_version=”3.0.98″][inf_infusionsoft_inline optin_id=”optin_5″][\/et_pb_code][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" [et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.0.98″ custom_padding=”7px|0px|49px|0px”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.0.98″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.0.98″ text_font_size=”18px” background_layout=”light”] Last Sunday something so beautiful happened, it fueled my entire week! I looked at my phone to check if it was time for me to cook dinner, and it was only 2:31 pm. \u201cThat can\u2019t be!\u201d I thought. I had gone to church, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1571,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1570","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/tatianacameron.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1570","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/tatianacameron.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/tatianacameron.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/tatianacameron.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/tatianacameron.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1570"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/tatianacameron.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1570\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/tatianacameron.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1571"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/tatianacameron.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1570"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/tatianacameron.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1570"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/tatianacameron.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1570"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nWrite about \u201cbalancing right and wrong, and keeping on a good foundation to balance the good word, action, and intention in our lives!\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n
\n“Silence” for me silences all words, thoughts and feelings and lets me rest without action. When I ‘silence myself’ I am still… letting go of ALL thoughts (mind), signs, words, imaginations and feelings – so my soul (my awareness) can rest and surrender control (surrender into God’s presence).<\/p>\n