As I write what will be the last entry for 2009, I have been thinking back over the last year, and all that it has brought me. During this time I had (what I felt was) my most successful tax season, during which I not only kept a tight reign on work schedules and client budgets, but also managed to train for a marathon and spend time with friends and family. I discovered the joy of the Steampunk culture here in Washington as well as the stark beauty of Eastern Oregon, and I was finally able to buy a motorcycle that suits my riding style, one which I will probably own for the next five to 10 years. I managed to acquire my CPA license, and have started moving towards having a true career with depth and meaning. All considered, I am quite pleased with the direction my life is headed.
Several plans are in the process of being laid for next year, including a family reunion back east that I am hoping we are able to attend, but currently I am mostly focused on just surviving the upcoming busy season. I am anticipating working an additional 150 hours during the next four months as compared to last year, so in favor of maintaining my sanity I have bowed out of maintaining the extreme running routine that I did last year (which, admittedly, was not as optimal as it could have been- I had to run in the mornings, which left me extremely tired throughout work). This means that I will not be able to participate in the Tacoma Marathon next May, but I am expecting to begin training when tax season ends, so we shall see what happens by late summer.
I also had a most interesting experience after my last entry. I had settled down for my Sunday meditation, and during the middle of which I was struck by an answer to the Koan I have been struggling with. It began something like A mind can never be filled, and a cup may... I must admit, mere moments after I finished meditating it floated out of my head, much like a sweet dream in morning's light. I suppose I should just take this as a sign that I am not yet ready to fully receive this particular lesson.
Moments of such epiphany are not exactly usual for me during meditation. I am still very much a beginner, as I have little more to go off of than the diagrams and examples that were printed in my copy of "A First Zen Reader". I have been practicing meditation off an on for about two years now, though admittedly not as often as I should. Especially since I find the experience so freeing. Given the fact that when I was growing up I suffered from long bouts of insomnia because I simply could not stop thinking. I had initially thought when I began meditation practice that I would have a similar problem, and for the most part that has proved true. However, my chattering thoughts always quickly fade to a buzz in the back of my mind that I can easily put aside in order to think on...nothing at all. It is a decidedly unique experience.
Work this week has been a very unique experience as well. We have recently purchased four new computers for the office that are running Windows 7, 64 bit edition. Since I am still the go-to computer person in the office (despite my best effort to discourage this image), I have been assigned with setting them up with all of the software that we use in the complex field of accounting. Of course, this means working with and around a myriad of issues, most of which I just barely managed to solve by the end of today. A few still elude myself and my fellow computer colleague, but I am reasonably confident that any further issues we encounter will be minimal, at lease until the next version of our software is released.
I also discovered this week that the group Iron & Wine apparently had produced a cover of the Postal Service's song "Such Great Heights". It was apparently included on the single release, but since I never acquire this particular recording, it has escaped my attention until just recently. I was quite pleased when I first heard it playing.
Tomorrow should be a rather busy day, given we will be traveling from Tacoma all the way to Spokane, so it is time I seek out some sleep.
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Sunday, December 27, 2009
A New Year, a New Journal...Sort Of
For Christmas this year I received a very nice copy of "The Gnostic Bible" from my parents, my previous copy of the gnostic gospels having gone missing some years ago in college. I suppose I should not say missing, since I know of its last whereabouts, and can extrapolate from that as to who has it or what might of happened to it, but that is neither here or nor there, and and since I do not intend to pursue the issue with this unnamed party, I shall leave it at that.
The Gnostic Bible is a newer print, and contains several volumes that were not in its predecessor. I have not delved deep enough into it yet to see if the translation is any better, but if the forward is any indication, the authors put a severe amount of work into maintaining both accuracy and the writing's poetry. I will write more on it once I have had a chance to read a bit further.
Last week at work I finally remembered to ask my employer if the company would pay for my AICPA membership, which fortunately it appears that they will. I would have joined regardless, since I want a subscription to the Journal of Accountancy again, which I have not had since college, but it is good to know I will not have to set aside the cash to pay for it. Also, with luck, this will open some doors for me to use to show that I am taking initiative in furthering my accounting career, which has been weighing on my mind lately, with another semi-annual review around the corner. The time in my life where accounting was merely a job that I left behind at the office every night is rapidly coming to a close.
I have also been focusing on a particularly perplexing koan lately, which I am having trouble solving, or to be more precise, not solving: How do you fill a cup which is already full? I have been using this koan for meditation now for some time, but have not yet been able to yet to come to terms with a satisfactory non-answer. Perhaps I simply am not clearing my mind as completely as I should be, or perhaps I am merely thinking on the koan itself to much. Or perhaps this is the exact sort of situation that requires proximity to a true zen master. I still have not reached a point where I can accept the idea of enlightenment via proximity, but perhaps this is another hurdle that I need to overcome.
My non-acceptance of so many ideas is due partially to my full cup nature, which is what led me away from orthodox Christianity (not to be confused with the Orthodox Church), and eventually to Buddhism in the first place. However, I still retain so many opinions and bias, I find it difficult to seperate what I believe, and what I do not. I hate to even use the word "belief" now, because of all the negative connotations that it holds in my life. I refuse to "believe" anything, yet accept everything at a base level until it is proven otherwise. I am an enigma wrapped in a riddle covered in hypocrisy.
I shall continue to meditate on this.
Tomorrow begins the last week of work in 2009, and puts me exactly two weeks before the official start of tax season. At that point I will be increasing my weekly hours up to 55 for the month of January, and then up to 75 from for the February to April stretch. I have a new regimen of energy supplements to ensure that I don't pass out at my desk too often, but we will see how long anything even slightly resembling a routine lasts.
I forgot to mention earlier that I also received a copy of "Let the Right One In" from my wife. I enjoyed the movie, and am very much looking forward to reading the novel that it was based on. Twilight has nothing on this story.
Oh, and one last note. My intent from this point on is to update this journal every Wednesday and Sunday. I am currently thinking of this as a new years resolution of sorts, never mind that it is not yet 2010. Please keep an eye out for updates.
The Gnostic Bible is a newer print, and contains several volumes that were not in its predecessor. I have not delved deep enough into it yet to see if the translation is any better, but if the forward is any indication, the authors put a severe amount of work into maintaining both accuracy and the writing's poetry. I will write more on it once I have had a chance to read a bit further.
Last week at work I finally remembered to ask my employer if the company would pay for my AICPA membership, which fortunately it appears that they will. I would have joined regardless, since I want a subscription to the Journal of Accountancy again, which I have not had since college, but it is good to know I will not have to set aside the cash to pay for it. Also, with luck, this will open some doors for me to use to show that I am taking initiative in furthering my accounting career, which has been weighing on my mind lately, with another semi-annual review around the corner. The time in my life where accounting was merely a job that I left behind at the office every night is rapidly coming to a close.
I have also been focusing on a particularly perplexing koan lately, which I am having trouble solving, or to be more precise, not solving: How do you fill a cup which is already full? I have been using this koan for meditation now for some time, but have not yet been able to yet to come to terms with a satisfactory non-answer. Perhaps I simply am not clearing my mind as completely as I should be, or perhaps I am merely thinking on the koan itself to much. Or perhaps this is the exact sort of situation that requires proximity to a true zen master. I still have not reached a point where I can accept the idea of enlightenment via proximity, but perhaps this is another hurdle that I need to overcome.
My non-acceptance of so many ideas is due partially to my full cup nature, which is what led me away from orthodox Christianity (not to be confused with the Orthodox Church), and eventually to Buddhism in the first place. However, I still retain so many opinions and bias, I find it difficult to seperate what I believe, and what I do not. I hate to even use the word "belief" now, because of all the negative connotations that it holds in my life. I refuse to "believe" anything, yet accept everything at a base level until it is proven otherwise. I am an enigma wrapped in a riddle covered in hypocrisy.
I shall continue to meditate on this.
Tomorrow begins the last week of work in 2009, and puts me exactly two weeks before the official start of tax season. At that point I will be increasing my weekly hours up to 55 for the month of January, and then up to 75 from for the February to April stretch. I have a new regimen of energy supplements to ensure that I don't pass out at my desk too often, but we will see how long anything even slightly resembling a routine lasts.
I forgot to mention earlier that I also received a copy of "Let the Right One In" from my wife. I enjoyed the movie, and am very much looking forward to reading the novel that it was based on. Twilight has nothing on this story.
Oh, and one last note. My intent from this point on is to update this journal every Wednesday and Sunday. I am currently thinking of this as a new years resolution of sorts, never mind that it is not yet 2010. Please keep an eye out for updates.
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