Wednesday, March 28, 2007

mantra

I started to say "new mantra", but honestly I've never had a mantra* before, that I can remember. So this is a first for me, and I'm hoping it will help me curb some of my self-destructive habits, such as staying up all hours watching Turner Classic Movies or obsessively scouring the web for delicious content:

Make good choices.

Easy enough, right?

If only.

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(*) What is a mantra, anyway? I looked it up, and it seems that I'm somewhere between the two meanings, the first being a sacred verbal chant, the second being a commonly repeated phrase. Obviously "Make good choices" isn't explicitly spiritual. It is a directive to me (think about and do what's best) and an abbreviated plea for help (Lord, help me figure this out!), simultaneously. So it's not really a mantra in either meaning of the word, but I'm going to keep calling it my mantra anyway.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

I think "make good choices" is more of a motto than a mantra. A mantra really has to be able to be chanted to make it work.

My favorite mantra was something that I saw on cable-access TV in Austin, years ago:

I am a being of violet fire
I am the purity God desires


Awesome, isn't it? Say it out loud a few times. I have no idea what it means.

I had the narrator of my novel make up a good one: "Om vodka tonic om." But you have to be a drinking man to make that work.

Ross Ruediger said...

There is nothing in the least bit self-destructive about staying up all night watching TCM.

That is all.