Lovers and Advances

Your would be holy man friend has returned. I’ve been busy lately, but I have a few minutes to bring you up to date and share some beauty. Let’s see if I can remember all I hoped to write here.
Monday I travelled to the dark side (the city of Dartmouth, across the harbour from Halifax) to take a Saint John Ambulance first aid and CPR course. It had been some time between when I last received training, during my time in Scouts as a kid, and the certification that day. There were a lot of little details I had forgotten, but much of the training was just refreshing my memory. It was certainly worth the time to take the course, though, because I certainly feel more capable should I ever need to save a life.
Tuesday night I discovered that my Muvo Slim had stopped charging its battery. The same exact problem had happened to the first model I had, and I was quite dismayed that within 6 weeks I had two MP3 players break. I returned the player and ended up with an iRiver T30. So far I’m liking the T30 quite a lot, but it doesn’t have as nice a physical design or transfer interface (it requires WMP10) as the Muvo Slim. One nice feature is the on the fly loop creation, which is great to review parts of dialogues (think IN) or, I imagine, for music creation.
Wednesday morning I started my weight training and cardio routine after work. There’s a fitness center here, so I’ve committed myself to spending at least an hour after each shift working on that. It’s one of the seeds I’ve selected to create an Integral Transformative Practice, and I’ve no doubt it will be beneficial. Sadly, I’ve forgotten my swimwear for the past two nights, so I can’t enjoy the hot tub or start my swimming routine quite yet.
Also in my ITP, I received my first package from Centerpointe today. It contained the Awakening Prologue program, which I’d already been working with for a couple weeks (I was sent a copy to try by a friend), and I’m happy to keep working with it because it really has benefitted my meditative practice, deeping the states I’m able to enter into and refreshing me more effectively. I gave my friends Andrew and Allison my demo disc and I’m hoping they’ll find it as exciting as I do.
I’m on the verge of the next leap of my path, I feel, and it’s exciting. I can’t ever feel I’ve fully explained how enthused I am by the integral movement and the wonderful challenges it has presented to me. The ITP ideal has been a great way to focus on implementing the changes in my life I’ve wanted to for some time while having a whole lot of fun. It may just be the geek in me dancing, yelling and singing, but there is a genuine thrill to the discoveries I’ve been making and the increased understanding of the world I’ve gained through my integral studies. There’s a wealth of resources and knowledge out there that has renewed my hope in spite of all the cultural deadweight, harmful political momentum, my own pathologies and general lack of evolution that for so long dragged me down. Now that I’m engaged in my own personal evolution and seeking ways to share that with others, I’m finding a deep-seated contentment and sense of direction.
Tonight I was listening to the IN podcast for this week and enjoyed “The Yogic Practice of Courtship.” It points out a very important aspect of a healthy relationship, that the happiness of those in it should not be independant of the relationship. That is, that we should first be happy outside of a relationship rather than seeking one to bring about happiness. It also speaks of the need to be entirely present for a lover, in this example through a long distance relationship. Having been in one a couple years ago, I can definitely speak for the importance of that sense of presence.
It’s no secret that Stars are my favourite band (I even have a t-shirt to share that with everyone). I’ve fallen in love with their very seasonal video for “Your Ex-Lover Is Dead.” It strikes me as a very Canadian (the band hails from Montreal) vision of heartbreak, with the song being about not regretting a lost love.

Be sure to check out the beautiful video.
When I was talking with Susana last night I remembered some fond memories I have of skating on frozen lakes. The expansive white of a lake covered by a thin coating of snow is entirely unique and so moving. In the years since I last laced up skates, there has been no experience even close to the feeling of moving over the depths of water with wind howling past me and nothing but space before me. I think that’s one of the secret joys of living in a country of bitter winters like Canada.
Human Upgrades has to be one of the coolest and most elaborate hoaxes ever created on the internet. It’s a site for an imaginary European medical clinic, compelete with broken English, that offers technology-based enhancements for people. Some of the surgeries are bizarre (like the “palmclit”) but there’s one I find very beautiful and appealing. The Simpleear is an enhancement that is visually beautiful and would be of some benefit if it were possible.

You can find a photo of the Simpleear here. While not possible now, what kinds of enhancements will we choose to have in the coming decades?