Friday, October 17, 2008

Travel and Mindfulness


We just took a trip across the country to visit our daughter. She’s our only girl, and she lives far away and it’s a long time between visits. I loved being there with her and I miss her during the long dry spells apart. Whenever I travel I find that new experiences have a way of grabbing my senses. I focus more on each moment. That’s what art is about. Mindfulness. You don’t have to travel to practice mindfulness. Stop and take it all in. Breathe. All mindfulness requires is to give up the fixed ways we have learned to look at our world. Observe your thoughts without being critical. Examine a leaf in fall color. Draw a picture. Or pick up a camera and record the moment.

The first thing I did when we got home was go to the dentist. Nothing else is quite as riveting as being in the dentist’s chair. Oh yes, it gets my attention.

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