The Last Day

So...  It is the last day of 2018. 

I truly enjoy new beginnings.  In fact, to celebrate the incoming new year, I am doing something that will make most people jealous!  I am cleaning, sorting, and purging!

With a cleansed life, and a cleansed soul...I will begin my new and renewed goals and directions.

That being said, I am not sure how much I will be posting on Mindful Literacy this coming year.  My blogging goals and commitment will take a shift towards spiritual living and I will be using the blog (connected to this one) called Mindful Lens. 

You will find these new ideas at https://mindfullens.blogspot.com/

Here I will blog less often, but with depth and food for thought.  I will bring out thinking more focused on living a Mindful life and enjoying what life has to offer.

Please consider following the blog. I will continue to share links to the written thoughts on other social media platforms.

Meanwhile, I will spend much more time with other projects.

Priority 1:  My health.

Also... My Articles for Choice Literacy.  If you are not a subscriber, you are missing out!   Go to https://choiceliteracy.com/ for more information!

As well, I will be working on several of my book projects and collaborations with authors and presenters, as well as publishers around the country.  I will share information about these projects on all blogs and social media platforms.

And...I will be spending more time with my roots in artistic photography. I am not sure where these images where end up, but I will certainly be displaying them for others somewhere.  At this point, I have no intention of selling images, but getting back to this to make my soul smile and rekindle my love for various topics of art photography...such as old barn works...

Finally, but not least...I will be getting further in touch with myself through my studies of meditation, spirituality, and self-care.

Thanks so much for joining me in the 366 day ride.  I appreciate your attention and thought.

Stay awake.  Stay aware.

Be Mindful.

Peace.

Mark Levine

#Mindfulliteracy
@LevineWrites

The Cycle

We are at the point of Winter Break where some interesting things are easy to note for me.

1.  I have to check in the morning to remind myself what day of the week it is.

2.  I realize the reason and need for break.  The essential need to catch up on sleep, making phone calls, setting up and making appointments, taking care of health issues, catching up on simple chores and errands, and finally going through the cabinets and tossing expired items.

3.  I have finally brought out my winter clothes and put away summer clothes.

4.  I had time to let my guard down and get the stomach flu.

5.  I finally dusted under the file cabinet.

6.  I realized how much of my to-do list I never got to in September.

7.  I realize that I will never get through my "hope to do" list over this break.

It is really just another cog in the workings of being a teacher.  We have such interesting lives.  I have found that if I talk to local teachers, teachers on the other side of the country, teachers in Canada or the Philippines, or anywhere in the Galaxy...we all seem to share these types of realizations about our lives as teachers.

And...

Most of us, that are truly in this field for the right reasons, wouldn't trade our lives for anything.  Being a teacher and having this weird cycle of life that repeats on an annual cycle is out thing.  It is part of the joy, the sacrifice, and the weirdness that makes us who we are.

Born to be a teacher?

I think so.

Be Mindful.

Peace.

Mark Levine

#Mindfulliteracy
@LevineWrites

One Little Word 2019

Today is the day that I begin the work within my One-Little-Word for 2019!

My word is...

FORGE...

Forge: to form or bring into being especially by an expenditure of effortworking to forge party unityThe two countries forged a strong alliance.
: to move forward slowly and steadilythe ship forged ahead through heavy seas
Middle English, "smith's workshop," borrowed from Anglo-French, going back to Gallo-Romance *faurga, going back to Latin fabrica "process of making something, craft, workshop"
So...What does this mean for me?
I will create. I will build. I will move ahead at a steady and consistent pace. I will write. I will produce thinking and conjures more thinking.  I will smith knowledge and understanding for myself and for others.  My driving force will be a self-directed workshop of productivity of mind, body, and soul. 
Through this, I will be intentional, be aware, and live mindfully.
Be Mindful.
Peace.
Mark Levine
#Mindfulliteracy@LevineWrites

The start of the Vision

So I am starting to work on my Vision Board today.  The board is set.  Next comes the fun part- the finding of the images that will allow me to see and envision what I want for my life.

What is a Vision Board?

It is a board (mine is cork) with images and words attached.  The images and words represent the ideas of whatI want in my life.  This takes on a version of the Laws of Attraction whereas you see yourself living a certain life and the universe bring that life to you.  For me, this board will include short and long term goals.

Most people take a stack of magazines and rip out the images of what they are looking for in life.  For me, I am feeling that this is not the way to go...or, I may be a bit OCD about all of this.  Instead, I want to find specific images online and print them out in a somewhat uniform basis.  But...the board isn't supposed to be very organized so I will have to deal with that when I come to it.

I have seen finished boards that include nice big homes, vacation homes, lots of money, expensive cars, jewelry, and the perfect mate.  I have also seen those with exercise equipment, perfect bodies with sculpted abs, and lot of fancy gym shoes.

Mine will not be like that...

Mine will have a camper near water.  I will have something to do with weight loss.  There will be things about writing and completing writing projects.  There will be mediation, mindfulness, and happiness.  Maybe something about being debt-free?  I see this all centered around my "One-little-word."  There will be much more, but I am not one to spread my focus....not on something like this.  Of course, my finished product will be included in a future post.  I also see my vision board being updated about once every 6-months.

The key for me is awareness.  This project will help my to focus my awareness of what I am looking for out of like.  It will make me mindful of what is most important while setting goals to work towards.

Be Mindful.

Peace.

Mark Levine

#Mindfulliteracy
@LevineWrites

New

And now it is time to prepare for the New Year.

New hopes, dreams, aspirations.

New goals, milestones, and wishes.

New beginnings and refreshed starts.

New outlooks and looks within.

New appreciations and understandings.

New resolutions and mindsets.

New ways of carrying ideas into fruition.

As I work on the physical parts of this renewal (Body), and I am also working on the mental parts (Spiritual and emotional)

I have decided to allow myself the gift of letting go of the year behind me.  I already feel lighter in this endeavor.  I have liberated myself from the worries and concerns of the past year.  I am promising myself the joy of a new start with nothing laying on my shoulders but possibilities.

Also...

Today I begin my vision board.  I will talk more about this in the coming days.

Here is a cool site to learn more about vision boards, their purpose, and making one of your own.

https://blog.mindvalley.com/vision-board/

Be Mindful.

Peace.

Mark Levine

#Mindfulliteracy
@LevineWrites

Happy Boxing Day

Today was a rough day.  I spent it with food poisoning, a flu virus, or some strange alien bacteria. I woke up to a wrecked stomach and right now, I am finally able to sit up long enough to get a few words down.

For me, stomach issues are the nemesis of writing.  I am too busy being dizzy or stumbling to the bathroom.

Anyway...today is Boxing Day!

Boxing Day takes place on December 26th and is only celebrated in a few countries; mainly ones historically connected to the UK (such as Canada, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand) and in some European countries. In Germany it is known as "Zweite Feiertag” (which means 'second celebration') and also “Zweiter Weihnachtsfeiertag” which translates as Boxing Day (although it doesn’t literally mean that)!

It was started in the UK about 800 years ago, during the Middle Ages. It was the day when the alms box, collection boxes for the poor often kept in churches, were traditionally opened so that the contents could be distributed to poor people. Some churches still open these boxes on Boxing Day.

It might have been the Romans that first brought this type of collecting box to the UK, but they used them to collect money for the betting games which they played during their winter celebrations!

In The Netherlands, some collection boxes were made out of a rough pottery called 'earthenware' and were shaped like pigs. Perhaps this is where we get the term 'Piggy Bank'!

https://www.whychristmas.com/customs/boxingday.shtml

And now that you know this...I need to make another visit to the bathroom.

Be Mindful.

Peace.

Mark Levine

#Mindfulliteracy

@LevineWrites

All of the Above

As I reach the end of the year of my One-little-word being the word, "Persist"...I can say that this is the first year since starting to participate in a one-little-word philosophy that I will miss my word.  I will enjoy it and live it for 6-more days.  Then, the entrance of my new word.  The entrance of a new and refined philosophy.  A new direction for new goals.

As far as I know, the concept of the one-little-word started with Ali Edwards in 2006.  https://aliedwards.com/projects/one-little-word.  But the reality is that most of us have been setting a goal of sorts since we were kids.  We set goals that often could have been summarized in a word or a phrase.  This One-little-word concept simply gave a generation of thinkers that ability to come together and participate in a movement that offers focus and discussion.

So...

For the past year the word "Persist" has guided me to daily writing.  It has also given my direction to say yes to other professional writing endeavors.  I have used the motivation to make several thousand connections on Twitter across the globe.  This practice has moved me to the point that I am very ready to take my writing to the next level and begin a new chapter in my professional life.  Now, that I am smarter and more confident...I am moving in this direction for me.  Not just to be published or to have my name on a book or three, but to enjoy the writing process and have the conversations with myself that end up in print.  Maybe they will end up being read by others, maybe they will simply sit on a shelf for someone to read when they stumble upon them.

So...

I very much suggest such a challenge to others...to learn about themselves through daily writing.  If they are not willing to put themselves out there to offer their thoughts and souls to others, then write it in a private blog or journal of sorts.  In doing so, one will learn about the patterns in their thoughts.  They will learn about their beliefs and concerns.  They will also grow in a way that might not be expected, they will be able to figure who they are or can be as a writer.

For me, it has been all of the above.

Even if one doesn't look to grow as a writer, one can certainly stand to find themselves within their daily lives.  In a way...get to know who they are behind the messes of the day and life.  Writing daily can become a mirror that allows you to see behind the image in a typical mirror.  It can expose secrets, aspirations, beliefs, goals, concerns, and even help to wash away ideas that have stood in the moving forward.

Writing can awaken the mind and soul.

Be Mindful.

Peace.

Mark Levine

#Mindfulliteracy
@LevineWrites