2007 Winter Solstice

Last night the four of us celebrated Winter Solstice. We rang in the new year with my Tibetan Buddhist bell, then lighted votive candles in ceremony and spoke out what we were giving up to 2007 and what we were grateful for/looking forward to in 2008. It was a very moving, bonding, experience. I had never felt as close to the three of them as I did at that moment.

Then came the Roman Orgy, followed by a quick outing to Epoch. As I was a dominant since the last Solstice, I played a more interactive role than I did last time. I really enjoyed myself and my family, and look forward to the next Solstice.

Das and I almost ruined it for the other two, when we spent an hour discussing/debating/lecturing with each other about philosophy, religion, and science. It started off with his review of my final Integrative Therapy paper that I wrote for one of my classes (I got an A, by the way :) ), and it just went from there. He and I really enjoy the back and forth of it all, and it can get quite heated and exciting. Unfortunately, it has the opposite effect on emmie and mitda; seeing us go at it stresses them out to no end. We ended it when emmie pointed out that it was almost solstice and mitda had taken a walk to calm down.

I loved Solstice and look forward to the next one, but I think Das and I will have to arrange for outings of our own so we can toss concept bombs back and forth freely.

2008 Resolutions

I have been working on a list of 2008 To Do's and Resolutions. I will continue my health and fitness goal of having a washboard stomach by Eeyore's Birthday Party; once I have that, I'll have future health goals planned out. I will also start and finish the first draft of my novel by 2008 year end; my immediate goal of a page a day will accomplish that. As part of my Solstice resolution, I will be letting go of perfectionism. In that vein, I will be working on reducing procrastination in my life. I haven't figured out an objective, measurable goal for it, but I still have a few days to figure it out (gee, I hope I don't wait until the last minute to do it ;) ). Last, I will spend more time with the Family; doing things like IMing and blogging regularly, as well as using the time I save from not procrastinating, will all add up to more interaction.

Supporting the Family

So I went on Monday to the local support group with mitda; Das and emme were asleep, poor guys. mitda was wonderful; she interacted with everyone at the meeting, asking good closed and opens questions to probe, clarify, and illuminate, and offering her perspective when relevant. It was like watching a good counseling session in action. At one point, one of the group commented along the lines of, "You are very knowledgable," or something to that effect.

I chose not to comment when it was my turn; I didn't feel comfortable talking at the time. The purpose of the group is to provide a forum for BPs and Ds; I felt that, no matter how tactful I was, anything I said would be taken as "You BPs make me miserable because....." I'm there to support them, not the other way around.

I wonder how I'll feel in a few years when I'm facilitating group counseling sessions.