"10 % Happier" by Dan Harris

 
            I started a weekly online writing workshop on 4/17, taught by a former faculty mentor. I’m struck, not for the first time, by the similarity between writing workshops and self-help/spiritual workshops. Make a list of things you are passionate about. Write ten apologies. Imagine your childhood home; identify a specific location associated with a memory.
            Now go deeper; write for ten minutes, expanding your thoughts/associations/memories.
            How serendipitous that this class coincides with finishing Dan Harris’s book about meditation and self-awareness/mindfulness. Harris is a skeptic, lifetime agnostic, hard-nosed, driven TV news anchor. After a crash-and-burn catharsis of stress and drugs, he sought healthier ways to manage his intensity, and had the professional connections to get insights from the top gurus in the world – including Deepak Chopra and the Dalai Lama. The writing is funny and engaging, his story intriguing, and his discoveries totally compelling.
            Go deeper; expand your awareness.
            Maybe I’m ripe for an internal overhaul, the 100,000-mile tune-up. In any case, this book reached me. Lots to explore here, in my head and in my writing.
 
My 60th year in 60,000 words
Day 246: 176 words, TOTAL = 40,313; 19,687 remaining