Fast - not - Feast

In my "Alone for Thanksgiving" post, I mentioned that I was going to journal my 3 days fast here at USM. My own personal journey into three days of fasting and meditating during a time when most folks are feasting and fellowshipping. My fast consists of liquids only - no solid food - I will allow myself protein drinks so I don't completely deplete myself. This is a spiritual journey, not a sadistic one.

I woke at 10:22 this morning... and sat in contemplative silence for a while. Three days is a long time, but also a short time depending how you look at it.

I set the mood of the day with a beautiful CD - "Sacred Spirit Drums" by David & Steve Gordon... an instumental of of Native American flute and Incan Pan Pipe melodies mixed with tribal drums and natures sounds like birds, wolf, coyote, and whale. It is so soothing.

12:40 p.m. I drank a cup of peppermint tea. Then meditated, breathing slowly in the beauty of life and exhaling the old stale breath. As I sat there breathing, and sinking deeper into my soul, I found another group to sit in union with today... the souls of all the Native Americans who died so we could take this land. Peace be with them.

It is now 1:12 p.m. and I'm not hungry and being surrounded by all these beautiful souls -- I am not lonely.

I will be updating this post periodically over the next three days. It is a 3-day diary of my journey. Peace to you all. Scall

2:18 p.m. started feeling a little shakey at 1:45 so I drank a protien shake and feel better now. Still listening to the "Sacred Spirit Drums" and thinking about the Native Americans. They were a beautiful culture. When I think about all they have lost, I get choked up - and I wonder why we need to invade and conquer (no answers forthcoming on that yet).

6:27 p.m. experiencing mild headache, lack of energy and some grumbly in my tumbly, but otherwise I feel great. Spent the better part of the afternoon cleaning my apartment or sipping hot herbal tea in quiet contemplation. Still hanging in there - still don't feel the need to eat.

Friday 11/28/03

After a full day of quiet contemplation and meditation around 8:00 p.m. I felt the need to connect to the "real world" for a while and did so by tuning into (oddly enuf) MTV's "Real World vs. Road Rules Gaunlet" marathon. Their personal endurance challenges reminded me of my own.

7:33 a.m. After a good night's sleep - I feel reinvigorated and energetic. There is no dizziness, or headache. I feel ready to take on the world but due to the lack of food it will probably be a short sail ;-)

8:00 a.m. Had a protien shake and took out the recycling.

8:30 a.m. Last meal: Wednesday 8:30 p.m. = 36 hours w/o food and I feel fine.

Saturday 11/29/03

Spent the entire day yesterday, again, in quiet contemplation and meditation. I wanted to go for a long walk badly just to get my juices flowing again; that much meditation and contemplation can burn a mind and body out, but it rained from morning till night - so again, for relief, I turned on the TV but couldn't find anything to watch except the news, which informed me of all the holiday sales that were happening and I realized I hadn't even started to do my Christmas shopping. Not being in the holiday spirit, I was having a hard time finding the motivation to feel festive this year. My stomach ached. Somewhere in the mezmer of flipping channels, I decided to go shopping the next day and knowing I'd need my strength, I ate a cup of bean soup - just short of 48 hours from the beginning of my fast. So - that was it.

This morning I felt great. I sipped herbal tea and read a bit of "Master and Commander", and then went shopping. [no breakfast or protein shakes]. I am still committed today to finishing the rest of the fast even though I had a small bit of soup last night. I AM looking forward to eating tomorrow, though.

No meditation or contemplation today. Just sheer American holiday retail madness and a cheering in my soul to be a part of it. (The last two days have been so monkish and foreign ;-) but a good experience, nonetheless.) I got my two "heavy-weights" (my daughter and my roomie) checked off the list, but I still have a little more to go.

It's been an interesting weekend - for sure.