The Evening Star

​Somedays, I write this blog at night instead of first thing in the morning. As I sit here now, for some reason it reminds of the Evening Star or the Evening Post. Not like Norman Rockwell but like some magazine or newspaper from a childhood memory.  Specifically, back when I was a kid, the Washington Star newspaper had this separate fold-out tucked into the comics just for children. I can't remember the name of the little fold-out but it had puzzles, stories and history lessons about George Washington and the Supreme Court-stuff like that just for kids. Sorta like a Weekly Reader magazine but inserted into the comic section of the Sunday paper.   You could count on it to be there every Sunday and then the Washington Star went out of business.  I was devastated.  I was heart broken.  I was just about 6-years-old and already understood the importance of print newspapers long before their digital downfall. 

​Then much to my delight, the Washington Post started carrying my little fold-out of Sunday bliss.  My hobby; my ritual.  Isn't it interesting how we are attracted to certain things as we grow up?  Things that to other people would never matter but to you, your little world revolves around it and it brings you pure unadulterated joy. 

Even to the point, that 40 years later you are writing about it in a blog.  The thought of its consistency and simplicity brings light to my heart and a smile to my face even now.
 
It is so consistent and simple it is meditative. So is the the practice of writing about the memory itself.  The original meditation is being 6-years-old with pencil in hand doing my "find a word" puzzles, and developing my love of polar bears and penguin by reading the blurbs.  The meditation now comes from being present in this moment in time writing about the joy of my childhood ritual.

So as I finish writing this blog entry tonight, I will remember to get up early and write tomorrow's blog first thing.  After all, it will be Sunday morning and it will be time for my 6-year-old self to be unleashed.  

What simple task is meditative for you?