Creative Mindfulness

 "Lira refers to a central aspect of the contemplative attitude and the capacity to grasp beauty. He states that ‘beauty is not seen when one is asleep, identified with pleasure or pain, when one is not paying attention and not concentrating, when the mind passes mechanically from one object to another without stopping, when it looks without seeing.'" -Alvaro Ignacio Langer

While I missed class this week, this quote seems to me to capture the idea of the lesson. We do not see beauty, we are not held in awe, when we are sleeping or otherwise engaged. It does not exist for us when we are "looking without seeing," but when we look to see.- When we truly take the time to appreciate what we are seeing for all that it is, all that it took to be.

Each item, each life around us holds worlds that we pass blindly by in our day-to-day rush. We take so much for granted and evaluate nearly everything (it seems) at surface level. 

"...the Vidyadhara described perception as a process of first seeing and then looking-then seeing again. He described seeing as creating "a kind of open ground," and looking as beginning "to examine the phenomenal world further." - Chogyam Trungpa

There is a need for self-awareness (and awareness in general) to change your understanding of perception in this way. It seems to me to take time both in cultivating the needed level of awareness as well as in the practice itself. You can't "see" the flower, "look" at the flower, and then "see" the flower again in a matter of seconds or maybe even minutes. It isn't a timed event. It is an act of love to be able to find the awe in even the simplest moments. It requires you to slow down and to be present, to place value on this "examination of the phenomenal world." 

We were asked to engage in this practice using photos. I tried to take/select photos of things in which I found myself... lost? Items that I chose to meditate on and see in a deeper way. I worry that I may have lost the plot on this assignment but sometimes losing the plot is the best method to finding your way so here we go...

(I feel like explaining the photos might make it lose something but I'm going to anyhow.)

The Quilt: I wrote at length about this earlier for my own sake. At first glance, it's just an old thrifted quilt. But from the moment of it's conceptualization, it took unnumbered people to bring it into existence. - And it lead a full life before it came to keep me warm or cushion my dogs while we watch tv together on the bed. Who else has it kept warm? Has it nurtured someone while they were sick? Did they die under it? Was love made in this blanket? A baby? Did that baby nap on this blanket? Has it been on a picnic? Has it been a fort? This worn thing that I take so much comfort in but pay so little attention to: what vast meanings might it have had in its lifetime?

Bath Items: I thought about just cropping this down to one textile, to one item, but I love how it speaks of the complexities of the linens in our lives. (Yes: I love fabrics.) How much effort goes into the creation of these items that get me moving in my morning but how little attention I pay. How little joy I take: it should be a shameful thing. As I showered and dressed for my day, I tried to focus on the energy that had been put into the creation of everything I used and I sat with the feelings of love and appreciation of their beauty. 

Coffee: My little coffee plant is probably one of the more appreciated and loved items in my home but I still found myself wanting to really "see" her. In this shot, you can see a new set of leaves unfurling while bottom ones begin to fade and brown and will eventually fall away. For a period of time, I kept each leaf that she lost and I still take photos of each new set of leaves as they open. She was a gift to me, a plant with a long lineage going back to a friend's fieldwork in South America many years ago. She is an example where I find it easier to experience her in this new way. I've tried to use that as I work on building this new skill.

And lastly: my work space. I hesitated on this photo because it feels so cluttered to me but then I thought... this is my project. There is a lot happening here and normally when I see this moment, I see work. I see mess. I see stress and tired. But in trying, this week, to really identify the change in perception and the beauty and awe in normal, mundane moments, I chose this as my last example. Choosing to really look at it, I see colorful foods, whole food items, healthy foods for our bodies, home baked goods, and a clean, beautiful home to produce and enjoy them in. More than that, I see the same work space where my grandmother prepared nourishing meals for almost my entire life with her. Moving beyond these four walls, I see the work of the farmers and that of the producers of all of the aspects of my comfortable life. Nothing here is simple, easy, or to be taken for granted. It is all steps towards a greater love.

In trying to find moments that I wanted to create photos of this week, I ended up looking at a great many more things with a new lens. Maybe that was a big part of the intended process: to get us really looking, really seeing, really engaging with the amazing world of which we are blessed to be a part. If yes: success! If no... well... still success!