My Practice

My practice is all of the habits that I choose for myself. The habits that make up my day to day life.

“We are what we repeatedly do… therefore excellence is not an act, but a habit." -- Will Durant

We become that which we repeatedly do. It’s a process. It’s daily. It’s ongoing.

My practice is flossing and brushing my teeth every night before bed.
My practice is drinking green tea to start the day.
My practice is my sleep hygiene. How I prepare for bed each night and at what time.
My practice is my morning routine. The first things that I do when I open my eyes in the morning. How I start my day.
My practice is how I treat my brain. The media that I consume. How much. How often.
My practice is the things that I do to exercise and move my body each day.
My practice is how I interact with my fellow human beings. Am I present? Am I connected? Am I loving?
My practice is ‘Everything in it’s place, and a place for everything’. Putting clothes in the dirty hamper when I take them off and turning them right side out when I do.
My practice is my digital hygiene. Not letting my computers and my i-devices and my hard drives get completely overwhelmed with unorganized digital detritus. Having a digital ‘everything in it’s place, and a place for everything’ system.
My practice is writing every day.
My practice is monitoring and controlling the inputs and outputs to and from my brain. Meditating. Becoming aware of this moment. Being conscious of the river of thoughts bouncing around in my head.
My practice is the things that I do to nuture my creativity. Practicing trombone. Practicing guitar. Practicing bass. Practicing piano. Writing music. Making videos. Writing words.
My practice is the things that I do to overcome my fear. Taking the steps necessary to put the things that I make out into the world.

My practice is my life.

I’m still working on my practice. Some parts are better than others. Some parts are reasonably refined. Other parts not so much.

Some days I feel confident in my practice. Other days I feel completely adrift and ask myself ‘what the heck am I doing?’.

I’m pretty sure asking that question is also a part of my practice.

I’m a human being and not a machine. I’m not perfect and my practice will never be perfect. That may be the hardest thing of all to remember.

This is my practice.

Post navigation