The Calm and the Chaos: meditating and packing

So I meditated.  Silently.  A lot.  For ten full days to be specific, at the Illinois Vipassana Meditation Center.  There are a lot of impressions and thoughts still swirling about the experience. Most overwhelmingly, I’m glad I did it – this has been a personal goal for a while, so in addition to the benefits of the meditation there is also a sense of accomplishment.  It was hard, definitely.  Just sitting in meditation for 11 hours a day was a huge hurdle, physically and mentally.  (I renamed the 3 daily “Sits of Great Determination”, during which one strives to not move a muscle, to the Sit of Great Delight, the Sit of Great Distraction, and the Sit of Great Despair.  This was only partially tongue in cheek.)

The time alone with the mind was also an emotional roller coaster, both enlightening and eerie…it doesn’t take long for the constant swirl of the unconscious to start rising to the surface.  Yet it was also empowering, at least after I finally started letting go around day 3.  And it was incredibly liberating to turn off the cell phone, leave the email, and embrace being unreachable.

Then there were the funny moments: without the aid of verbal communication, ordinary situations easily become hilariously awkward.  Take for example the time I accidentally wacked a guy in the head while putting on a sweater.  It turns out he sat next to me in the meditation hall, so I had a full 7 days to sit with my guilt after the incident before the silence was broken and I could apologize.

Poll Results and the Apology to End all Apologies

So it’s been a month since my last post, and three weeks since the poll closed for votes on the blogs new look.  At first, I was thinking that having been on a silent meditation retreat for almost 2 weeks of that time gave me a decent excuse for not posting.  But then, looking back at how often posts begin with apologies, I decided on a more permanent approach: eternal absolution.  So, I’m henceforth swearing away all apologies for belated posting. For the rest of time.  Period. Bookmark this post if you want, you’ll have my timeless penance enshrined here.

Now, for both our loyal readers here at Embarkations, onto the poll results. The plurality's impression is I’m a narcissist (a whopping 42%).  I’ll own that. All these great new social media tools we love are, fundamentally, narcissistic. I’ve always been bothered by the cognitive dissonance of the perception that viewing friends’ Facebook photos is somehow “stalking.”  Isn’t that why one posts them?  I won’t succumb to the fad of propagating the myth that this stuff isn’t somehow posted to be looked at.  Dear lord, I hope somebody is looking.  Otherwise I’m wasting a lot of time.

Along with narcissism, the general evaluation seems to be that the new look is an improvement (71% total).  No scientific accuracy there, but thank you to those who did take the time to vote.  I’ll also work on getting some more pictures incorporated once I’m in Moldova.  The full results are posted after the jump.

In the meantime, I’ve started a page about the blog itself to track its evolution; comments and suggestions are always welcome there. Whether in terms of design, navigability, or content, I’m always looking for ways to make Embarkations a more interesting place! (Or εὖ τόπος…)

Peace Corps Aspiration Statement and my first steps in meeting it!

As part of one's preparation for the PC, they ask you to write an "Aspiration Statement" before you deploy.

Mine is rather long, (4 pages), but it's included after the jump for those who are interested.

The main theme of the whole thing is INTENTIONALITY.  I want to approach all aspects of my service intentionally, and not just let it fly by me the way life sometimes does.

So, in the spirit of that commitment, I am taking the first step toward that goal today, and leaving on a 11 day silent meditation retreat at the Vipassana Center in Illinois. When I return, it will be full scale packing mode! Literally, I'm flying out the door, late, right now! (Fitting, right?!)

So, cheers!

Take the Poll!

Hey Readers,

Check out the page's new look!  Then, VOTE!  This is your God given natural inalienable eternal right as a reader, but if you don't vote, you can't complain!  SO, down with apathy, the poll is to the right.

I'm still tweaking the new layout...  I want to add a photo-stream over in the sidebar, and I want to figure out how to make the background a separate color over to the sides (past the text), and once I get to Moldova, I'd like to maybe make it a bit more, Moldova-ee, but, for now, this is it!

You know, sometimes ya just need a change.  The poll is open for 17 more days.

I'm Zachariah, and I approved this message.

 

Channeling Moldova

It’s been about a month now since I accepted my invitation to serve as a Health Education Peace Corps Volunteer in Moldova, and recently, I’ve really felt that I’m starting to channel Moldova. This has been brought about by the past month’s activities, which have involved: 1) reading everything I could about Moldovan history, culture, politics, etc., 2) starting to study the language (Romanian), 3) reading lots of current Moldova PCV blogs, 4) reading up on public health and health education in Moldova, and 5) becoming comfortable answering the question “Where is Moldova?” Out of gracious magnanimity for the asker, I usually begin the reply to point five by pointing out many of my friends in Europe don’t know where Moldova is.

Peace Corps: the NEWS!

Many (most?) readers have probably already heard the news, so I won’t bother with much fanfare: I’ve finally received my Peace Corps Invitation, and accepted a placement to serve as a Health Education Specialist in Moldova, deploying June 8!

2009’s Proposition 8, or First Wednesdays in November

First Wednesdays in November are starting to become something of a tradition in split personalities for me – I wake up feeling relieved as a progressive, and troubled as a gay man. This year was no different, with Maine’s voters repealing the state legislature’s gay marriage act, yanking the right to marry from waiting couples for whom it finally seemed close. This rebuke came amidst a wash of other special elections results that, while not good, were probably the best Democrats could reasonably expect during a heavy recession and after two landslide cycles.