What was said to the rose that made it open
was said to me here in my chest.
-Rumi
Great & inspiring short read:
http://tinybuddha.com/blog/how-mindfulness-can-help-you-discover-what-you-want-to-do-in-life/
I hope that you find your own little piece of zen today! ❤
“What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the master calls a butterfly.” -Richard Bach
You are! You’re actually more than pretty great.. Even though it’s easy to forget.
It doesn’t matter how busy you are. Whether you have thirty five tasks that need completing daily or absolutely none it is just as easy to forget …you’re a real, breathing entity.
You’re a real person with real emotions! Real needs and wants. But you’re more than that, too.
The way we live our lives, the way we spend our time, the (often harmful) way that we treat ourselves and others; it’s easy to forget that there is a real world out there apart from technology, work, school, politics, social constructs… the world that we so often make the only reality for ourselves.
But… you’re not a machine. Your true purpose is not to live for others in any capacity. You’re incredibly valuable in that you are you! Unique, yet just one tiny paintbrush stroke on a giant canvas.
The most important thing that you can do for yourself is so simple yet something most people fight with tooth and nail.
It’s just to take care of you. All-important and worthy you! …Your Den.
Whatever that means to you- physical or mental- making yourself a priority is the basic foundation of feeling worthy.
Although we look outside of ourselves for appreciation, satisfaction and to feel good enough, we don’t have to.
You are not defined by your career accolades, your title, your age, your sex, your race or your culture- even if you want to be. You simply are.
You are one person, a part of a big and beautiful ecological system. You are small but you can make a difference starting with self love and self care. You can make a difference by realizing you’re worthy and need no other titles to prove it.
I hope you feel free and worthy today and everyday!
Zenfully-
Mindfulness isn’t just about keeping my head clear and my goals in sight. Mindfulness isn’t just tapping into my source and feeling aware.
Mindfulness, in part, is about actually giving a damn!
Yep! I said it. It’s so easy to get sucked up into the little trivial things. Believe me, I know… Which is exactly the reason why I won’t watch TV shows, especially reality TV. If I allow myself to become emotionally involved with things that don’t matter, then I won’t have as much energy for the things that truly matter in my life and the world.
So for me, one of the ways I practice mindfulness is by not having cable. I’m not going to lie here, I have Netflix and I’ve watched all of Game of Thrones… (I mean, c’mon, that writing is amazing!) But the thing is, really being mindful and choosing exactly what I want to watch, paying an extra price per episode on series I choose to watch, and being aware and critical of what I’m watching is really important to me. I don’t want to be able to just come home, plop down, and put on Keeping up With The Kardashians. (That’s still a thing, right!?)
The awesome thing is escapism is still escapism, even if it has some sort of moral or artistic message. So I choose the latter! I love documentaries, thought provoking movies, and you know what? Definitely some mindless drivel mixed in there as well… an 80/20 balance, I tell myself.
So what’s my beef with today’s media?
Well, my big issue I have with television and most movies produced today is that we are quite literally being fed propaganda everywhere we turn. A lot of it is fear-based and fear does absolutely nothing for us…. When has fear ever helped you to evolve? I know it has never helped me. It’s both enthralling and upsetting how prevalent “Hollywood” is in the day-to-day. It’s as if most of us live in a glass cage hidden away from the natural world, where our main focus is instead on who wore what on the red carpet. Silly, isn’t it?
It seems like too many of us are just absorbing this information and never truly critiquing it. I truly believe a big part of being mindful is always asking, “But…why?” Questioning everything is a trait I wish no one would lose! You see it alive in children, ad then what happens? We’re humans. We can think critically, debate, and decide for ourselves what we believe. It’s pretty awesome. Critical thinking seems to be a dying art and one that needs to be revived. And you know what? I think we can do it.
I adore film! I really do! I think it can be a profound and amazing thing.. and one that is truly great at manipulation, be it good or bad. I’m not here to judge what kind of films or television shows people watch. That’s not the point here, it’s instead what we choose to do with whatever it is we consume.
While studying for class today I realized that just as we can dissect writing (as we do in class) we can also dissect film or television and divide each piece into two different labels: commercial or literary. Commercial is the fluff, it’s the kind of stuff that is purely for entertainment, to get your rocks off, or whatever may be. And then there’s literary. I’ll quote what Perrine’s Story and Structure’s definition is,
“Literary fiction plunges us, through the author’s imaginative vision and artistic ability, more deeply into the real world, enabling us to understand life’s difficulties and to empathize with others.”
…that is art! A beautiful and provoking kind of art.
I know for me even if I’m watching the “commercial”, I’m always debating what is said or done. Why is this funny? Why is this sad? It all comes down to mindfulness. It’s not about making life or things less fun, it’s about seeing the true colors of it all. When we are mindful and attach meanings to things in our life, I think it enriches us and adds more to our character and being. The awareness of consumption helps us define who we are, don’t you think?
On a side note, I’m sure my significant other finds it really annoying that I’m always analyzing things.. but what was it Socrates said? “The unexamined life is not worth living” Ha!
I think any life is worth living, but I’ll take mine mindful and curious! What about you?
Although the word zen is used often in modern culture, it’s roots are in Mahayana Buddhism. The definition from Merriam Webster is, “A Japanese sect of Mahayana Buddhism that aims at enlightenment by direct intuition through meditation.”
Just as with anything else, philosophies are open to interpretation… I am not attempting to attain enlightenment here per say, but I am attempting to attain an inner stillness. To me the feeling of zen is peaceful. An oasis of sorts. Finding (or awakening) to the true “you” without allowing any outer noise to get in the way of pure understanding.
A lot of times people meditate to get in touch with themselves, to feel their center, and to literally clear their mind. People also practice yoga, attend spiritual or religious group gatherings, read self help books, take a vow of silence… the list is endless! Religion, spirituality and “self help” are alike in so many ways. They’re there to help a person find the higher truth, the reason we’re here, to love others as ourselves and to BE!
I don’t think the important part is – what – you’re doing, but that you are… Or at least you’re trying! This quote from John Lennon speaks volumes:
Zen to me is feeling so high on good stuff that the bad stuff can’t get me down.
As someone who has dealt with depression through my adolescence and adulthood, it’s worth finding something that lifts your spirit up! It’s those deep breaths and connecting with what is real that helps. It’s closing your eyes and visualizing your center or feeling grounded to the earth that helps. Those are things that both calm me down and make me feel alive at the same time. It seems so easy, right? But it takes questioning things that are tangible and realizing that we are more than flesh and bone. It takes becoming aware that we are our thoughts and our actions, both! We can control that feeling inside. It’s liberating, especially in the culture we live in now.
That being said, I am a child of the 21st Century! I love technology, the material world can be fun, I don’t lead a life of silence and I can definitely be armed for battle when it comes to debate… But the important thing is finding the balance.
Two books I am reading right now are: Spirit Junkie by Gabrielle Bernstein and Meditation Express by Nancy Butler and Michael Suib. Both are absolutely fantastic. Here is an excerpt I found especially helpful on how to quiet the mind in M.E:
Imagine a rushing mountain stream flowing through your mind. Every time a new thought enters your mind, throw it into the stream and watch it flow away from you.
A way I am finding my zen right now is by taking my dogs on daily long walks. I found a forested area and we walk an hour to an hour and half. Sometimes at a slower pace, sometimes we jog, and sometimes we run and walk- but it’s always in silence, in nature and pace dependent to how I feel. It’s a great lesson for me on listening to my intuition.
As a kid I was raised by pretty metaphysical parents and grandparents but it’s taken me until my early 20s to fully focus on self improvement and raising my own consciousness. It’s all okay though, and this practice of finding my own little piece of zen has taught me that.
Finding your inner happy place doesn’t have to follow any rules but your own. Whether it’s organizing your house so the clutter is gone, deciding to take up painting, or meditating for one minute… Go out there and give it a try!
Leading a zenful life is a practice! This post is the first in a series of mindfulness.
xoxo
ZEN DEN 