Lots of good talk here. I like!
Interesting to see reference to Full Catastrophe Living. That rang a bell . This week I was doing some work in an apartment of a woman in her mid-80 s. I saw that book by her reading chair. I'd never heard of it. She is an amazing model of good practice: diet, exercise (mental and physical), attitude. We chatted a lot. Have much in common politically. She lives on the third floor of a historic building, no elevator. I mentioned that while I was lugging the components of two stages of scaffolding up 34 stairs to her apt., in real heat and humidity, that I decided to practice some mindfulness and instead of just grunting and puffing along, and trying to imagine myself on a beach, to become aware of the feel of the foot on the step, the muscle in the leg tensing (ie, burning!) the lunchtime aroma from the downtown restaurants rolling in from the open window on the second landing...etc. She recognized a kindred spirit, which led to a little discussion of mindfulness. Who would have guessed?
She's been visiting Cuba for 30 years, and described an argument she had in her Wednesday night conversational Spanish class with an MBA prof, former Eastern Block resident, on the merits of opening up Cuba and easing trade restrictions. She said it was difficult framing policy argument in a language that she was still trying to get the hang of. So: inspiration can come from some surprising sources. And I'm always grateful when it visits.