EXCERPTS: “Who Is Minding the Store?” & FTWMI: Nom de Destiné, Part “Deux” (the surprise part) January 9, 2024

May your mind-body-spirit be well, be great, and be in harmony with your thoughts, words, and deeds.

This can be considered a “missing” post for Tuesday, January 9^th. Other than the Wednesday (7:15 PM, CST) practice, there are no Zoom practices until Saturday, January 13^th. You can request an audio recording of previous practices via a comment below or by emailing myra (at) ajoyfulpractice.com.

“What is an adult? A child blown up by age.”

— quoted from The Woman Destroyed by Simone de Beauvoir

The following excerpts are from a slightly revised post for January 9, 2021:

“Do you ever take note of yourself? In particular, do you take note of who you are and what you are all about — and how you got in the habit of being you? That last part may seem weird, because you’re thinking that you just are you and that being you is a state, not a habit. However, philosophically speaking, we become who we are — more and more, every day — and, as we become who we are we less and less likely to deviate from a certain pattern of behavior. In other words, who we are in this moment is a habit.

Simone de Beauvoir, born [January 9^th] in 1908, was (along with her longtime companion Jean-Paul Sartre) one of the founders of existentialism; the philosophical and literary idea that freedom and the expression of personal freedom should be the foundation of and motivation for everything. Despite the fact that the couple, individually and collectively, sought to define themselves regardless of social conventions, there was a point when de Beauvoir had not considered how her sex and gender (and people’s ideas around her sex and gender) limited her freedom of being. In fact, she specifically told Sartre that she had not experienced any oppression or marginalization because she was a woman. (A comment I always find astonishing since one of the reasons the couple didn’t marry was because she had no dowry and said that made marriage ‘impossible.’)

Sartre basically told de Beauvoir to go deeper, and she did. The result of that deep dive was The Second Sex.”

I noted in 2021 that, “Sometimes Simone de Beauvoir’s behavior was so much ‘like a man’ that had she actually been a man, I might put her in the same category as President Richard Nixon, born [January 9^th] in 1913, and not ever focused a class on her contributions. A double standard? In this case, yes.”

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ABOUT THE HABIT OF BEING & THE DOUBLE STANDARD.

The 2021 playlist for January 9^th is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “10202020 Pratyahara”]

The 2022 playlist for January 9^th is also available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “01102021 Being, The Habit”]

“One is not born, but rather becomes, a woman.”

— quoted from “Part IV — The Formative Years: Chapter XII. Childhood” in The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir

FTWMI: In 2022, I created a video series called “Nine Days” that focused on setting intentions and cultivating habits. This is the first video in the series and the beginning of the practice.

In the spirit of generosity (“dana”), the Zoom classes, recordings, and blog posts are freely given and freely received. If you are able to support these teachings, please do so as your heart moves you. (NOTE: You can donate even if you are “attending” a practice that is not designated as a “Common Ground Meditation Center” practice, or you can purchase class(es). Donations are tax deductible; class purchases are not necessarily deductible.)

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