This is my 20th posting. It is now Thursday, September 11th, 2025, and I kicked off my blog on Thursday, May 1st, 2025. It has been about 4 ½ months. I am feeling proud of myself for consistently publishing my writing. I can say that I am a blogger now.
I believe that having a dog is really good for our mental health. It is nice having a little animal to take care of that loves you unconditionally. Bill and I are currently taking care of Dawn’s dog Charlie. He is so very sweet. He is cute, soft and cuddly. He usually gets two or three walks a day. I am going to take him for a walk after I am done writing for my blog. He is a very slow pokey walker. He loves to sniff and mark his territory as he walks along our path. Yesterday morning, I walked him for about 15 minutes, and we hardly got anywhere. Bill took him for a long walk this afternoon. I will take him for another walk this evening. He will need to get buzzed at some point. Bill owns clippers and he really needs a haircut. Although he does look especially adorable with his tight little curls. Bill is actually petting him right now. It is fun having a dog again. We did have two dogs years ago named Max and Clarabelle. They both passed away within a short time of each other and we never got another dog.
When I came home from work today Charlie came down to greet me. I had been gone for almost nine hours. After returning home from working all day it was pleasant to come home to that. Especially since I didn’t get my full hour of chanting this morning. I had stayed up late last night. I didn’t go to bed until around 11:30pm which is not good for me. This morning, I woke up at 5am, but I still felt tired, so I went back to bed. When I got up again this morning it was around 6:45pm. By the time I started chanting, it was close to 7am. I was only able to chant for 45 minutes this morning. I usually like to chant for at least an hour. I did miss those 15 minutes that I did not get. Despite that I did have a good day. I just didn’t have a terrific day. My winning strategy is chanting abundantly each morning before I leave for work. One hour each morning is the winning formula.
I hate to admit it but writing for my blog tonight has been quite painful and difficult. In the past when I wrote it would come out like a flowing river. For some reason tonight it has been quite hard. I recall I was talking with one of my volunteers and we discussed my writing together and I stated that it usually just flows out of me. I just checked my word count, and it was about 500.
I have been writing for a few hours which is so unlike me. Did I jinx myself by discussing my writing process? Actually, I dislike talking about my art production. I remember I was talking with my friend Mitch who is a musician, and he said he loved talking about the art production process. That is definitely not me. I wonder if I jinxed myself by saying my writing usually comes out like a flowing river. I sincerely hope that tonight is an anomaly and not an indication of what is to come from now on.
Is this happening because I didn’t get in my hour of chanting this morning? Maybe I should have chanted before I started writing? Well, it is almost 10pm now. I really thought I would have completed my post before now. Next time I am going to do some chanting before I start to write. I still need to do my evening chanting. I will probably chant for about 15 minutes. If I can get to bed by 10:30pm that would be good. I am meeting two dear friends to chant together tomorrow at 6:30 am. I love chanting together with other women from the SGI-USA. I mean no offense to the men though. But there is something compelling about women united in prayer.