‘In The Moment, In The Vortex’
…i may be getting sucked in, but i am totally with that…
In The Moment, In The Vortex
Tag: Mindfulness
Play What’s In Front Of You
Art and writing teach us much; I derive a great deal of benefit from the creative offerings of my fellow bloggers on this platform (thank you!).
So too, sport and games give us an understanding of ourselves.
My particular sporting activity is lawn bowls – above are photos from an early morning solo practice session and a recent regional championship I competed in.
One of many learnings I have taken from the game I love is this:
You can only play what’s in front of you.
Whether it’s the level of tournament and opposition; the weather conditions; the state of the playing surface, or any other variable, you just have to accept it and deal with it.
That means you can’t always do everything you would like to do or indeed are capable of, as the game situation, in that particular moment, may not require those optimal things.
You must constantly review what the game is demanding of you, right now.
No time to dwell on the end or game just played, or to “future trip” about the next one.
You also can’t do anything about what you can’t control – for instance, your opponent’s brilliance (or lack of it).
When it’s your turn on the mat, all you have is the bowl in your hand , and what lies in front of you on the green, in that moment.
Sometimes you will believe that discretion is the better part of valour, choose to play safe and tuck the risky shots away. At other moments, you might see a shot that no-one else thinks in on, trust your instincts and “just do it” (in the words of the great activewear philosopher Nike).
Game situation is a fantastic mindfulness tool !
These are, of course, lessons for life as well as sport.
Play what’s in front of you – for that is the only thing you can do.
Transitory
You can’t make this stuff up really.
Perfect cumulus cloud puffs arrayed in the sky, as they were late yesterday afternoon at home.
So perfect they don’t look real.
But it’s not the form of the clouds that really exercises my mind . It’s their fleeting, transitory nature.
Always appearing from out of nowhere, adorning the moment and then moving on, never to be replicated exactly.
You cannot capture clouds, save in photos.
And all that does is freeze their vapoury uncertainty to fit a frame that cannot ever contain their truth.
Rather than pillowy comfort, I associate clouds with uneasy change.
Change, and being fully present in the moment, are challenges for me – clouds are thus my ultimate mindfulness tools, for their unique presence cannot last…
……………………………………………….
(for more clouded thoughts, see: Cloud’s Illusions ).
Taking Time To Smell The Roses
My previous post The Presence Of Passion featured a single rose.
Here are a few more.
My then six year old daughter, in pinkish garb,takes in the fragrance of a neatly matching rose flower.
It was possibly the first time she had done so.
Freshness.
Discovery.
Mindfulness.
The saying “take time to smell the roses” is almost a cliche of mindfulness rhetoric.
But how often do we not do that exact thing? We know what they look and smell like. But we take them for granted, ignore them and so deprive ourselves of sensory moments of joyful rediscovery.
There are thousands of such moments that pass us by because we are think we are too busy ,or have simply become blase.
We have to make time for joy and newness in our lives,to discover and replenish.
For time is of the essence, just as rose petals are crushed to form the essence of perfume.
Which brings a telling song lyric to mind:
” If you don’t stop to smell the roses now
They might end up on you “
( Husker Du , ‘These Important Years ‘)
The Monkey Mind
I only became aware this week of the Buddhist concept of the “monkey mind” when I was reading a story online about a depressed US army veteran who had been taught tai chi in order to quiet the negative voices in his head.
Another magazine article at home awhile back described an acquaintance of mine as having a “manic, fizzing mind.” The description was bang on.
I can relate …in fact this blog reflects a lot of things that just bounce around inside my head …I have to get rid of some of them in cyberspace…sorry!
But seriously ,apparently the average person has about 50,000 separate thoughts a day(many about the same thing) and a lot of those are not relaxing or mindful thoughts.They are of the “need to do this..now” and “next, that”, or just general worry bead handling.
Some of this is necessary for personal organisation and survival; too much of it causes mental and physical fatigue.We simply can’t unwind and become restless and unsettled.
Buddha wrote: “Just as a monkey swinging through the trees grabs one branch and lets it go only to seize another, so too, that which is called thought,mind or consciousness arises and disappears continually both day and night.”
The trick,supposedly, is to understand that aspect of ourselves and then tame the monkey, not fight it.
I won’t get into the mindfulness techniques to do that because I am no expert,but it is good start just to realise that maybe we can hold a thought,if a beneficial one, before launching for the next “branch” .
Lastly,the monkey picture was taken at a popular tourist island in Langkawi, Malaysia. There are constant warnings to the boatloads of visitors:”Do not feed the monkeys”,as they can be quite excitable and aggressive.
Good advice for those with “monkey minds” too!
The Experiences And The Meaning
” We had the experiences but missed the meaning “
– T.S Eliot , ‘The Dry Salvages’
I went down to the water’s edge earlier this morning, the sun penetrating the sea fog, the light quietly spectacular. There was a fleeting moment of soul connection and calm.
Then, as is my wont, my mind ticked over to what I needed to do today, tomorrow and into the near future.
The moment was gone and the experience had lost its meaning.
The sun and the water had not changed, or maybe imperceptibly.
But I had moved on.
How many little moments or experiences are lost just like that, as I am “elsewhere” even though physically present?
And then the best I can hope for is that the meaning of the experience will come to me in hindsight.
Just a reminder to myself to be mindful and soulful, even in the smallest experience, for it may not occur again.
Ebb Then Flood 