Helping shoulder the load...

For those of us who are...um...less than perfectly disciplined, shall we say, the arrival of a new Term Intensive is a BIG relief. We've got a list of things that we really truly have been meaning to do - sit more, or exercise every day, or drive more mindfully, or finally learn that part of the Daihishin Darani (the bit at the end with all the "somo kos" - you know the one I'm talking about) that's been bedeviling us for years - and it's a list that we know perfectly well we're not going to get done on our own. But with that TI opening ceremony, along comes a crowd of dharma friends ready to listen to our troubles, offer advice, swap stories, and help us do the things that we could never accomplish alone. It's magnificent.

So I'm intrigued by the possibilities of this blog as an addition to the process. As a local member, I get a big part of my TI support from our weekly meetings - being able to hear from people about what they're going through inspires me to work harder myself. But during the years when I was living out of town, I had to do without the live meetings, and I really missed them. Sure, you send your report in, and you get the meeting minutes back a few days later, but it just doesn't have the immediacy that those in-the-flesh encounters with your fellow TI-ers offer. I'm hoping that for the substantial number of out-of-town TI participants we've got this time around, this blog can be something a little more interactive and "live" than the back-and-forth of emailed reports. And for local members, this might provide a useful check-in point between meetings when inspiration flags.

It's a little different way of working, to be sure - but at its heart, it's just another way for us to help each other by shouldering a little of the load. Looking forward to it, guys.

Cecily