I
think a lot about mindfulness. I wonder how you can be productive and
successful when you maintain a focus intense enough to be called
"mindful." And then, I wonder if it’s possible to be truly productive
or successful without this practice.
There's
a good chance that any "productivity" or "success" that I've
achieved over the years has been the result of occasional and random luck,
emerging briefly from the chaos of my busy but less-than-mindful life. Sure,
I've made a lot of things happen and achieved many goals. Still, I am aware of
a slight panicky feeling commonly associated with my process. I'm tired. Panic
(anxiety, worry, etc) is tiring. Mindfulness sounds so centered and calm.
It
is said that a frog will sit in water that is being heated until it boils,
unaware of the change in temperature until it is too late. A frog that is
dropped into hot water will jump out.
Having
just returned from two months in Thailand, I am acutely aware of the
intensifying heat of my (might I say, “mind-less”?) life in the States. In Thailand, I spent
a majority of my time writing, thinking, wandering and writing some more: reflective,
somewhat mindful activities that I find personally relevant and meaningful. Now
home, it has been easy to fall into my old daily routine of simple, getting-by
busy-work and the less-than-productive (and tired) feeling that brings. However, I am committed to living more
mindfully - simplifying my life and creating even more time for reflection and
just being.
So,
the two major differences that I see between “normal” life and travel life have
to do with the numbers of responsibilities and things. Being more attached to
my responsibilities than to my things, I’ll start with trying to reduce the
latter first. I imagine it is difficult to achieve the simplified version of
life that living out of a suitcase offers. I’ll use the image of a monk’s very
few belongings to remind me that it is possible. They “own” no more than three
robes, a mat for sitting, and a bowl for eating.
Simplifying
will require mindfulness. It’s a little bit of a “Catch-22,” isn’t it?
