One Year in the Blogosphere

This past week marked my one year anniversary in the Blogosphere. To mark the occasion, I decided to give the blog a facelift. It has been a rewarding year. This blog has charted my journey into the Dharma... starting just months after I found a place to practice, formally took on the precepts, and decided to make Buddhism my spiritual home.

Reviewing past entries, if I could sum up this year in two words, they would be Overcoming Resistance. Many of my entries have dealt with my fledgling attempts to stay on the cushion or get back on the cushion when life and my approach to it tended to pull me elsewhere. This year has been about setting aside complaints, excuses, and strongly-held tendencies... replacing them with "don't know," and replacing them with practice.

I've wavered between viewing blogging as a distraction... something that takes me away from my practice... and blogging as an integral part of my practice. The more I sit in this medium, the more I can see that blogging can be an important form of practice. Sitting alone on my zafu, I am usually not confronted by the thoughts and opinions of others. When I enter the blogosphere, I find myself in a space where right speech becomes imperative... where compassion and honesty in my conversations with others becomes a key element of the communication process.

As for this next year in the blogosphere? I hope to go deeper. I hope to go deeper in my practice. I hope to continue to connect with the community of Buddhist Bloggers that seems to be growing every day. My thanks and appreciation to all of you that have touched my life through your blogs, your comments, your example.