Conscious...What? Wander...Where?

Consciousness.  To be awake. Aware. Not just physiologically (though, that helps. Believe me, there are days I've kind of tried it the other way...)  Present.  Aware, not only of the existence of oneself, but also of the existence of life as it's being lived by other life.  Sentient.  Responsive, but not Reactive.  Appreciative of Breath.  To See oneself reflected in the joys and sorrows of others.  To See others reflected in the joys and sorrows of oneself.  To See and not pass by.  To pause and notice...object, detail, relationship, emotion, physicality, spirit.  To try love instead of judgement.  To try to love even the unloveableness...in yourself, in those you love, in people and situations you don't agree with or understand, in strangers doing strange things, and friends or family, sometimes stranger still. 

Wandering. To move along at a pace suited toward observation.  To choose a path and see where it takes you.  To sometimes let the path choose you.  To be open to the fork in the road, the unmarked journey, the chance offering.  To stop and rest when that is good.  To stride ahead, when that, too, is good.  To learn to recognize that *good* isn't always as recognizable as one might think.  To make a sweet plan and follow it.  To know when to throw the plan out the proverbial window and set it free. 

These are my unofficial definitions.  I sat down to write them without much forethought, letting the words flow from my fingers.  The Conscious Wander isn't a place I'm trying to arrive at.  But the process by which my family chooses to live.  Not a perfect set of rules, expectations or regulations.  But a state of being-ness.  Sometimes we (I) fall flat on my face.  And now you all get to read all about it :-) 

The name came to me in writing this post at the blog I wrote about becoming expats and living in India.  And the words stuck with me, almost as a manifesto, of sorts.  I've know for a while that I wanted to begin blogging again, but in a new space.  The old blog is a bit of a love story.  Our India love story. Since returning to the U.S., blogging there felt like a tresspass.  That probably sounds odd.  But odd is our specialty around here.  We like odd...or at least spending time out of the main stream.  I also wanted to write on more varied topics:  Homeschooling.  Birth.  Food.  Books.  Writing. Yoga.  Conscious Living.  The Parenting Journey.  And because I am a glutton for punishment...Philosophy, Politics and occasionally, Spirituality and Religion.  And of course, my favorite...Travel. 

Of course, at the moment the only reader I have is myself.  That makes it easy ;-)

Bom Sankar Bholenath! (definition to come...)