In essence, for those of you who are not going to read this whole thing, the first Day of Focused Moments was successful, because it caused me to think about the focuses all day, not just for those moments. I spent 10-15 minutes thinking about how and what I was going to focus on for the 10-15 seconds of each moment. In between moments I thought more about the next moment, and I thought about how I could not stop thinking about the focuses. So, the DOFM is kind of like an accelerant. It is an example of an Exponential Circuit, because you become conscious of how you guide your consciousness.

As for the pictures, all they are is a record, wherever I was during that moment, I turned off the alarm on the phone as I read the alarm description to confirm which focus I was on. I closed my eyes and had the focused moment. Then I just shot a picture at whatever I thought was the best shot I could. It’s not about the pictures, it’s about the moment. Maybe next time I will use a phone that’s synced to the web, so the Timestamp is on the photo and immediately recorded. If anyone else wanted to participate they could do the same; Random photos representing simultaneous moments of focus.

I am going to have these kinds of days. Using more focuses, for a variety of reasons. Being the beginning of the actual “new year” of the sun cycle, I think the Spring Equinox is a good day to get more into it. I like Spring. Happy New Year. While many people were recently celebrating how a Zealot saved a lot of people from some other Zealots and went all Zealous on whoever was left, I was celebrating a Scientist Astronomer who was not afraid to prove how the Earth revolves around the Sun, and not vice-versa, because he was more interested in reality than politics. Have your own days, people. Happy belated Copernicus Day.

As for where I was? I went to a Spring Training baseball game with my brother, and it was a really nice day. I got a little sunburn on my knees from sitting in the seats, I met an adorable Senior couple who were huge fans of the Home Team, where I was not. They were groovy baseball people from way back, I could tell. I thought the Senior Citizens behind us in the shade were so cute sneaking beer into the game. I listened to the bottles roll down the concrete till someone stops it with their feet, then playing it cool as the Cop walks back and forth eyeballing the crowd. It was Grandma and Grandpa there, Rambo Fife. My team lost, big, they barely showed up, but it was cool to see a game and some seriously skilled players on both of the elite MLB teams.

The Moments:

Read the corresponding descriptions on the main page of the blog to see the context of these records.

Forgiveness of Self: 5 PM UTC (12 PM CDT)

The picture is on the sky opposite the Box Office at the park.

I took a moment to forgive myself mostly, for letting vamps cloud my mind, and for not doing something like this sooner. It can be boggling the way we might let some awful people have so much effect on our power and our memories. When I woke up on the DOFM I took a walk down to the river and kind of did this one already. That shows how it starts working and keeps going all day.

Dignity, Sovereignty and Self Esteem: 6 PM UTC (1 PM CDT)

The picture is the sky filled with smoke from a controlled burn a few miles away.

I have met all kinds of Americans, from the left to the right, and very very few of them have ever made me feel unsafe. Their ideas and philosophies had nothing to do with whatever it is about them that made them unsafe. Be dubious of the hype and follow the trail of power that has been pushing the paranoia. It benefits no one. I am glad I live in a Country where for the most part people treat one another pretty well. Violent crime has been going down in the U.S. Since 1993 despite what the TV says, the honest numbers don’t lie.

Honest Value Creation and Production: 7 PM UTC (2 PM CDT)

The picture is a shot of the infield during the game.

I thought about the people in Northern Wisconsin, who live near the Penokee Range, and all of the wonderful, healthy food and other values they provide and create. I am grateful for their dedication, and their courage in the face of losing everything they have worked so hard for in terms of maintaining a healthy ecosystem, and in terms of their exciting small business community that has developed that does not violate any Treaties. The State government shows no sign of backing down in the efforts of forcing them to have an iron mine, continuing to be dishonorable people by dishonoring Treaty agreements, and beginning the process of killing the watershed, taking the Hills out of balance, and poisoning Lake Superior. It is a place where the best kind of honest success is being threatened by the worst kind of force-backed, anti-free-enterprise cronyism. I drink the purest artesian water, have the best milk and eggs, eat the freshest vegetables and greens, and enjoy an incredible quality of life when I go there. 

Peace: 8 PM UTC (3 PM CDT)

The picture is the sky directly above my head.

In my mind’s eye, I exchanged some Wild Rice from the Bad River Tribe in Northern Wisconsin, some Maple Syrup from the Northwoods, and a collection of Independent American Films and Documentaries to an Iranian family. In return I received a nice cache of traditional spices and a book of contemporary Persian poetry.

Nurturers: 9 PM UTC (4 PM CDT)

The picture is a tuft of trees a few hundred feet from the boulevard.

There have been times in my life that people have recognized something about me that made them want to invest a little extra time from their lives in me. Those are the memories that give me the most strength, and do the most to define me. I spent the moment thinking about them and being grateful for them.

Forgiveness of Others: 10 PM UTC (5 PM CDT)

I thought about how forgiveness can be like an extra shove into the future using the energy of what keeps you from it, against itself. The picture I took for this one was of an artesian fed pond, but I accidentally deleted it, so this is a picture of this same pond, last year, with some graphics I added to it after I read this report from Pew Research. There is a really old turtle under the surface if you can look really hard for it.