Monkey mind

I just finished sitting in meditation for 15 minutes. I've decided to not go crazy about the fact that any feeling even remotely similiar to an empty zenlike state eludes me. So I sit there, eyes closed, breathing evenly. My candle with a faint lavender scent is lit, and since the wick is a bit long the flame dances and flickers about, just like my thoughts.

I notice that I am constantly "butting into" my silence with small reminders: must put pictures in frame, must hang up shelf, need to add entries to exercise diary, what will I blog about, need to order music and books from Amazon, need to check work planner, etc. Tonight I let them come with cool indifference. Sometimes I notice my thoughts fall for the tempation of being swept away, away from my inner focus, jumping from one subject to another - a real monkey mind as they say in yoga circles (For some reason I always picture Gibbon monkeys soaring from branch to branch...).

I figure that even if I am not exactly mastering the art of meditation, by letting my thoughts cascade through my consciousness rather than resisting them I will rest more peacefully when I finally get ready to go to sleep.