Christopher Kijowski Photography

Last Sunday I published a post called “Change.” My post today is a follow-up to that post. The past month has seen me initiate a large change and the past several months have seen repeated change. I’m not a fan of that much change but when I look at the change I’ve experienced I can only think if I manage it appropriately it will be good for me in the long run. All of these changes are positive for me. Difficult in some cases but positive.

Mindfulness or being mindful is what has allowed me to successfully manage difficult, sometimes unpredictable times in my life. That includes the change I have experienced. Wednesday has been an important, significant day of the week. What is the significance you ask? Wednesday marks the half-way point through the week and the weekend begins to become visible.  It made sense to publish a post on Wednesday as I try to publish on the weekends as well. Mindfulness is not a virtue with which we are born but a virtue that we cultivate through effort and introspection.

I like this passage from Jean Smith’s book, “The Beginners Guide to Cultivating Mindfulness.” I find myself going back to this passage when my practice becomes difficult. “We can practice developing mindfulness—and other skillful qualities—at any moment in our lives, but setting aside specific time to cultivate it is extremely effective. Many people have found that unless they reserve such time, it is difficult—especially in the beginning—to develop this quality. Cultivating mindfulness through meditation is like cultivating physical fitness. You go to the gym, where you exercise in order to strengthen and train your body, so that you will be strong no matter where you are. In the same way, you can create particular spaces and times in your life to train in mindfulness. At the gym, when you are training your body, that is the only thing you are doing—you are not driving a car or reading or eating. The same is true for awakening and strengthening mindfulness meditation.”

So what’s with this mindfulness stuff? Those who know me well know I have a special place in my heart for introspection. In this day and age where the Internet has allowed us to inspect the lives of others and become voyeuristic,  we spend almost no time working toward the improvement of ourselves. We do find it easy on the other hand to point fingers at others and insist we know what is wrong with them and what they need to change. We do this often and without knowledge but by making assumptions. I love sunsets almost as much as I love sunrises. A sunset is special to me as it marks the end of the day, a time to slow down and take stock of what I did, what I didn’t do and what I need to do to make tomorrow a better day.

Mindfulness or being mindful is a term which is most closely associated with the practice of Buddhism. Mindfulness consists of paying attention to an experience from moment to moment. More directly it describes the ability to become one with an experience. Photography is one of those activities for me that helps to cultivate mindfulness. When I have a camera in my hands it’s like an extension of my body. I see things differently and see things I might not have seen previously. Life seems to slow down and my thought process becomes more clear.

This past month has offered me the opportunity for change. I was offered a position with another company. A position that will allow me to increase the free time I have to focus on my photography. The sunset marks the end of the day knowing a new day will dawn.

I hope everyone enjoys this post and photo as much as I enjoyed writing it and taking the photo. Please leave a comment for me. I love to read them and know what you think. Thanks for reading.