Mighty Women - Pema Chodron

So I set out to write a blog entry about Pema Chodron when the 'E' key on my laptop (Which has been a persistent problem as of late) got stuck for the umpteenth time. In a fit of frustration I shut the whole thing down and proceeded to remove a small cat's worth of hair from the keys, pulling the 'E' from it's home entirely to see if this would help. I vacuumed the whole lot and even gave the screen a good washing.

I started the whole thing up again and ran a 'tweet test' for the 'E'. At first it seemed to be just as hopeless as before and my first thought was, "My computer is going to be the bane of my writing from now until some unforeseeable point in the future when I can finally buy the shiny, lovely Mac of my dreams."

Then I thought, "I should go to bed."

Then I thought, "I'll feel guilty if I don't write this blog entry."

Then I remembered Pema and I thought, "You're thinking too much."

I pretty much always have one of her books on my person. I read and re-read her with great satisfaction. She has an incredible wisdom about her and reading her writing is much like listening to her speak. This is a quality I admire in an author and one I hope to emulate in my own writing.

It also helps me to remember to be mindful. When I can hear someones voice applied to the words they've written it tends to stick in my head. Her writing sticks. She is full of compassion and has the same humble air about her as the Dalai Lama.

She is my unofficial Buddhist teacher and I am eternally grateful to my psychologist for suggesting I read anything she'd written.

She is also my next 'Mighty Woman' in the exploratory project I'm doing to capture and record those incredible female influences now and throughout history.