Jessica
This morning, I spent a half an hour walking in my neighborhood with my camera. Here is some of what I noticed:
The veins in this plant & the light in the distance
The vibrant, almost liquid purple of this flower
The words imprinted on this tire & the spokes on the hub cap
The texture of the weathering on this signpost
I have learned that when I have my camera in hand, I notice more details. It feels like I have an antenna up, tuned to the little things: the cracks in the sidewalk, the color of a neighbor’s flowers, the shape of a particular alleyway. It is for this reason that if I feel like creating, but don’t have a specific idea in mind, I will grab my camera and walk. I become mindful and I focus on the specific images in the world.
I feel like I spend a lot of my time desensitizing myself to noticing. I have time to notice now, because I’ve just started vacation. But during the work week, during my normal life, I rush-rush-rush, without noticing. I want to become more mindful in my daily life, but I’m not quite sure how. I know that my writing practice and my artistic practice help me to keep my antenna up, so to speak. Yet, I seem to be neglecting that practice lately.
I hope that during this vacation, I can recenter my thinking on mindfulness and cultivate some good habits to carry with me through what looks to be a busy summer. On Tuesday, I hope to pick up The Miracle of Mindfulness by Thich Nhat Hanh at the library on Tuesday, so that I can learn more about intentional mindfulness before I have to plunge back into work. I read a little snippet in a colleague’s office, while waiting for him to arrive to a meeting. This was on my last work day before vacation and I felt almost immediately that I needed to spend time with this book during my time off. I think it will help.
