Tossed the die to see what I would do after yoga.  Choices were Balthazar (ride), vacuum, paint the office, paint the painting, blog or write to my aunt.  It's amazing how tossing the die (or dice if you use two) always seems to make the best possible choice.  I read The Dice Man when I was in my early twenties and have used the dice ever since.  It ties in with Jung's synchronicity, with metaphysics, quantum mechanics and the Powers That Be (for want of a better description of the indescribable).  Writing something, anything, pulls me into myself, in a way that is somehow related to meditation and the creative act.  I've discovered something else about myself too.  When I load my brain with 'stuff', it acts as insulation so that I can't get close to or hear or sense the intrinsic truth of my being.  That sounds like a high falutin' esoteric fuzzy wuzzy sentence but it's true.  Feeding my brain junk gives out junk in return.  For instance, the Olympics finished last weekend.  We watched every day, caught up on the highlights in the morning and saw some of the live action before going to bed at night.  Naturally advertisers regarded the Olympics as a golden opportunity.  The same commercials were repeated ad  nauseum, along with the same jingles, phrases and visuals.  My brain was saturated with it.  How is it possible to think an original thought when the thoughts have been put there for me?  It isn't.

Being 56 I am on the tail end of the digitial revolution.  I tried to Facebook again and could not (thankfully.  I listened to my inner agitation and got off).  I don't use a mobile phone, I don't Twitter, I'm not sure what a MP3 is and have no idea what FLAC means.  Even so, in so many ways I have given my thoughts, given my brain away to those who will gladly fill it up with their thoughts, opinions and ideas (none of which are original).  There is much good which comes from our digitial interconnectedness but I think we also need to be aware of the dangers.  Heard on the news that our swimmers would have done better at the Olympics if they hadn't been using their social media so much.  Where the Chinese were spending X amount of hours in the pool we were spending only Y because we were too busy chatting or tweeting. 

I've written before that I have become more sensitive rather than less with age.  I donated money to Animals Australia and yesterday, to my surprise, I got my member pack.  I couldn't read the documentation inside because I knew once I had those images in my head I would never be rid of them.  Watched Cops a few weeks ago and lay awake feeling dreadfully sorry for these people on crystal meth and heroin.  Entire families caught up in tragedies of alcohol, drugs and violence.   Last night watched Explore where Simon Reeve explores the Philippines, especially Manila where 60% of the population live below the poverty line.  So much so that people have lived for years in cemetary mausoleums.  20 million people in Manila and more coming in every day.  Breeding like rabbits because it's a poor third world CATHOLIC country.  So I lay awake, again.  I understand why people go and live on mountaintops.  The life of a recluse, sans all electronic media becomes more and more attractive. 

I understand now why when I start doing yoga there is this feeling of relief.  It's become a refuge.  While I do yoga I can only do yoga.  My mind is still busy but  if I really concentrate on my breath, I am so much more there.  And being there means I am closer to the Truth of the Eternal Now and less burdened with Stuff.