Friendly User Guide

Hey y’all!

Welcome.  Thanks for stoppin’ in.

To help you make the most of your time in my little online home, I thought I’d offer a few tips, gleaned from my own experience on the Internets. If they work for you, great! If not, feel free to leave ‘em aside.

Here we go!

1. Relax. Starting now.  Relax your neck and shoulders.  Relax your forehead, your eyes.  Relax your fingers.  Be at ease.  Repeat as necessary.
2. Stay Conscious. Yeah, try not to pass out, hehe.  Naw, but seriously, it’s hard enough to maintain awareness (awareness of space, of stillness, of our bodies, of our thoughts) in everyday life, but in my experience it’s particularly challenging to stay present when I’m surfing online.  The Internet evaporates my mindfulness, if I’m not careful.  So while you’re here, try to really be here.  Don’t just think about what you see; notice how it makes you feel.  Notice if your heart starts beating harder (often happens to me when I’m about to publish something, like a post or a comment), if your breathing quickens, if you get chills, if you’re fidgeting.  Notice if your posture has slumped.  If it has, do your best to sit up: take care of your body for your own sake and the sake of all the people who love you.  Nothing online, no matter how fascinating or irritating or absorbing, is worth ruining your back.  Straighten up!  :) Repeat as necessary.
3. Go Slow. Take your own sweet time.  Just because the collective online world moves super-fast, doesn’t mean you have to.  This stuff ain’t goin’ nowhere: that’s what archives are for!  And when you’re done reading, shut the tab or window, close your eyes, and breathe for a moment.  Just a few seconds.  Then move on with your day.
4. Use It. Just as you would when reading a book, whether it’s a novel or non-fiction or poetry, look for ideas — spoken or unspoken — that might help you live your life better.  Then test them out.  If they work, keep ‘em up; if not, revise them or leave them aside.
5. Smile. Why not?  Repeat as necessary.

Everything I offer here, I offer because it does help me live better.  And because I hope it might do the same for you.  Some of the enhancement is straightforward, like a recipe that has upped my Life Deliciousness Total.  Or a useful concept, like the idea of the Beginner’s Mind.  On another level, though, especially with the photographs, the rewards are also very subtle.  It wasn’t just the subject that made me happy, but also my own sense of wonder as I photographed it.  So you could say that it brings me joy, and you could also say that I bring joy to it. And through it, to you.  As an expression of love, and as encouragement to keep generating joy and wonder for yourself.

That’s the hope, anyway. :)

Thanks for joining me, friends.  Take care.  Be happy!  Why not?  Repeat as necessary.

love,

katie