I stumbled across your blog doing a search for syncing Thunderbird to the iPhone or somesuch and stayed because of your blog descriptor. As a fellow seeker of simplicity, it spoke to me. I’m also on the indy path, chunking through, doing what I can and making the most of it. And 40 in a year. =)

One of the sustainable strategies gaining prominence in my experience has been mind control. Me getting control of my own mind, that is.

Since my response to my life is based on patterns, and the pattern had mostly been me being jerked around by my mind, how do I 1. get control of it? and, 2. get it to support me, i.e. enjoy my life rather than feel anxiety or stress.

For example, I have the tendency to get flooded with minor anxiety first thing in the morning in thinking about everything on the deck for the day. (Turns out that in part it’s probably due to hormonal change levels of (I think) seratonin while sleeping.)

So the first thing I do in the morning is yoga and meditation practice, 20 minutes each. Those have been, by far, the most useful techniques in reigning in my obnoxious mind that I’ve been otherwise ready to amputate at times. At this point, sitting has become more or less my answer to everything. Stressful day, come home and sit. Too heady to write, go sit. PMS, sit. Just 20 minutes to get back to that luscious home base space.

I enjoy your writing style–very easy to read. Thanks for sharing a slice of your life.

Shawn