601

This is my 601st essay here on the Practical Humanist. I am on a small hill looking back for a moment to gauge how far I have come before looking to where I will go. The journey is ongoing but it helps to assess my process in simple numbers from time to time. 

Sitting in front of a computer monitor every morning and writing a few paragraphs is not monumental. It is part of my own daily practice. It stimulates my brain. I use the exercise to remind myself of my place in life's journey. I examine the values I am refining and applying along the way. It is a progressive element of my practice.

Some of you who read this blog are kind enough to let me know you are there. This is a tremendous help to me in my practice. There are times of late when I have little opportunity to be with people who are also engaged in their own progressive personal practices. I will be even more stretched for time this summer as fix up and move to a new place. Perhaps that is why taking inventory comes so readily to me this morning. 

I maintain that the key to personal practice is consistent daily effort on that practice. Practice is a process which ends only when consciousness ends. 600 or 6000 essays do not make a practice. They can simply be utilized as tools. Practice is mindful and compassionate living, an ongoing and changing process, motivated by an intention to becoming the best person possible in each moment.