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LifeloggingI am Apollo Lemmon and this is my lifestream. I invite you to join me in my exploration of an integral life. I am focused on discovering what it means to live a life rooted in integral consciousness and I explore spirituality, art, community, technology, fitness and other aspects of a fully engaged life. I am now living in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
I can always be reached at apollo@apollolemmon.com
Sincere condolences to Spider Robinson and family on the passing of his wonderful, talented wife: the dancer, writer and choreographer Jeanne Robinson, after a long struggle with cancer. The human race has lost one of its finest members. Spider and Jeanne's family -- including their grandchild -- were able to be at her deathbed when she went, and by Spider's account, it was a sweet and gentle moment for them all.
"My feeling is that humans suffer from a poverty of imagination... and that we just can't anticipate what's going to happen!" After all, he continues, the Renaissance took root and blossomed in the aftermath of three bubonic plagues and the Hundred Years' War—who would have guessed? 
In March I began meditating for an hour each day. It has been hard to stick with the program, but the challenge has altered my meditation practice significantly.
Before these three months of sitting, I had a very sporadic practice that included at most a few hours of practice in any week. Sitting in meditation has finally become a comfortable and maintainable part of my days and I expect to maintain it going forward.
I read and re-read meditation books while I was doing the 90 Sits in 90 Days project, and I listened to great audio meditation instructions. The resource that was most illuminating for me was Shinzen Young‘s The Science of Enlightenment. Shinzen Young has a wonderfully direct and insightful way of explaining Buddhism and meditation, and I was lit up by the time I had finished listening to the audio program. The Science of Enlightenment is the clearest, most practical presentation of Buddhism and meditation that I have encountered and Shinzen Young is, without a doubt, one of the most skillful teachers of dharma we have.
More than 90 meditation sessions later, I feel that I am more focused and more committed than ever to lifelong meditation. Meditation fosters growth, focus and compassion, making us more capable human beings, and I am endlessly grateful to have started on the path.
As I continue to practice, I start to see suffering in the attachment and preference of one side or the other. No matter how hard I try to get rid of the unpleasant sensations they continue to arise. I continue to have bodily pains and things change constantly. The key, I found, is to let things arise and pass naturally. Holding on to nothing. Surrendering over and over again to what IS. Gradually, by learning to relax into the moment there is freedom. As the Buddha taught, “dwelling happily in things as they are.” Love arises with a deep stability outside of these conditions. I am human. This is it. Here is true happiness—the simplicity of being alive.