Lisa Colón DeLay

So, why is it that Lemurs look so freaked out? Like, a lot.

Are koala on the other end of the emotional animal spectrum? They are always so Zen, so casual. Sleepy but more than sleepy. Chill. Do the eucalyptus leaves they eat render a cannabis-vibe?

Incidentally, the mouse lemur looks like a combination of the two creatures.

I’ve been feeling like this Lemur looks.
We had an electrical fire, right after we packed it in for trick-or-treat night. It was smoke, sizzling, snaps, and weird burnt smells, and arcing bolts of live electrical current….and then the realization that you cannot put water on such a thing.

We were at the mercy of some stupid, ancient fire extinguisher dated to the Clinton-era.
Bill, that is.
Monica’s Bill.

Trust me. Weird Science is the ONLY time I care to view electricity in “dance-mode”. And even then, I won’t do so without wearing a bra hat in solidarity. It helps in acknowledging power beyond my understanding and control. I’m tempted to wear one in certain worship services. (I keep one in my purse.)

My husband wanted to call the fire department. Volunteers…er Zealots of flame and noise that house their equipment just next door down. Good and decent boys and men who love their beer (sic.) and are quick to respond, and descend in great numbers …but not always appropriately. I shuttered at the thought.

Instead, we selected the “phone-a-friend” option. A seasoned citizen and professional electrician came over at 9:30 pm….surely his favorite way to spend a chilly Wednesday night!

I felt like an all-out Lemur. Nervous, near the brink of extinction, powerless in my surroundings.

I should mention that it ended well. Nothing combusted. No local first-responders were used. No evacuations, premature, or otherwise. Some repair was completed the following day. A leaky kitchen sink pipe had met with some exposed crawl-space wiring. And rodents chew this stuff because? Charges triggered several breakers and melted some stuff. Had we gone to bed without noticing that the kitchen flooring had buckled a little, I might be writing this from a homeless shelter.

Thankful.

Click for Attribution link.

If I were to caption this photo for the project at hand, it would say,
“Sweater cubicle? or are bloggers too isolated for their own spiritual good?”

As I promised on Timothy Dalrymple‘s blog a bit ago, I am covering the topic of spiritual guidance for bloggers (as a series). Thankfully, some talent bloggers are joining us, too.

In plenty of ways technology has outpaced our spiritual reflection. The needed inner gaze at the practice (spiritual or otherwise) of blogging itself has not been encountered effectively. Bloggers have specific spiritual needs and encounter spiritual pitfalls that are under-addressed…even on blogs themselves, where you’d expect them to be handled. Well, no more.

In the next few weeks, I’ll lay this topic out and do just that, with the help of some talented bloggers as featured guest contributors.

For me, it’s an EPIC mashup of blogging experience (since 2006), and three scores of credit hours with my seminary education (M.A. in Religion, Spiritual Formation concentration) cross-fertilizing at the perfect juncture to rock this thing out. Boom. Pow!

For example:
Pitfall #1. Bloggers can be grandiose when introducing a new series.

If you are a blogger, this is especially for you. You and I both need this.

If you know someone who blogs, please send them over. Encourage him or her to read and participate in this series. If they seem reluctant, or just too busy, just say, “See, that’s exactly the whole point!”

A peek at some of the upcoming themes:

• Seductions Specific to Christian Bloggers and What to do About it
• Overcoming the Spiritual Pitfalls of Blogging
• A Writer’s Mistress is a Blog (humor)
• The Best Spiritual Disciplines for Bloggers
• Blogging and Community: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Plus, Articles from fantastic Guest Writers:

- Thom Turner

- Joy Bennet

- Ed Cyzewski

- Anita Mathias

- Jennifer Luitwieler

- Sarah Bessey

- Warwick Fuller

- Ray Hollenbach

…and others.

I have to do a post about this, esp since it’s fresh in my mind. This morning I had really vibrant lucid dreams. That is, I woke up within the dream, and could control the things I did/decided, and I could consciously control some of the dream’s outcome.

I used to have insomnia as a tween (pre-teen, ages 9-12) and teen. Now, I have trained my mind to fall asleep in usually under 2 minutes. (Much to the astonishment of my spouse, and friends who happen to see it take place.) I usually remember 3-7 dreams per night. I dont’ bother with a dream journal much, because I don’t have several hours to take it all down when I wake up.

If I can’t fall asleep in 5 minutes or less, I tend to be awake for a while. So, I’ve developed some skills to fall asleep. The one I use the most, and the most effectively is counted down from 100. I concentrate on the numbers (number shape and order themselves), and allow my breathing to grow slow and deep. Often I beginning dreaming immediately as I drift off into unconsciousness.

A person can develop this sort of (lucid) dreaming as a skill, much like training yourself to remember dreams. Here are some tips to start remembering your dreams. I also got some quite handy tips on how to wake up a bit better within my dreams from Tim Ferriss, who has researched it a bit.

For me personally, I’ve always had a vivid imagination, been highly creative, and highly stimulated visually. I had always thought everyone had the chance to dream this way. Since I was a little girl I’ve had fantastic lucid dreams, and I would pick *flying* when I would wake in my dreams. This just seemed like the most fun and exhilarating choice, and crashing didn’t happen too often either. (It’s more like bouncing usually.)

Can you wake up during your dreams?

Interesting- Quick facts about lucid dreams here.