Bernie Michalik's posterous site

I have tried to be mindful, to live in the moment and to not let my mind
get distracted. I believe this is a problem for many. I have tried to
meditate, albeit casually, but my mind runs off like a crazy person. If
anything, my mind thinks more thoughts, or at least I am aware of my mind
making all these associations, so that my thinking goes during my failed
attempts at meditation goes something like this: I need to clear my
thoughts from my mind..mind..mind..I wouldn't mind a sandwich..a pastrami
on rye with mustard..or a Rueben..that's a funny name for a
sandwich..Rueben was the name of the manager on the Partridge Family..I
wonder what Susan Dey is doing these days...etc.

I think this a natural state. While there is much complaining about
distractions, I think our mind is better at processing lots of information
than idling in meditation. If anything, our mind is close to it's sleep
state in meditation, and I believe our mind or brain thinks that state is
apporpriate under certain conditions. Otherwise, it thinks: get out of
sleep mode and process the world.

I do think being able to focus is a good mental state to have but you need
the discipline to acquire it. When I took a drawing class, I was required
to focus on a subject like Rodin's Adam sculpture for a long time as I
sketched it. The drawing forced me to focus my mind, and I could almost
feel my brain changing as a result. Because I had been working on this
focus, I was able to appreciate much more the greatness of Rodin's Adam
than if I just casually walked by. My eye/brain was trained then.

My eye/brain is lazier now. But I find the practice of mindfulness while
doing chores is a bit easier than just sitting still. I was trying to
practice it this morning as I was preparing to get ready for work.

As I stepped outside I found my eye was able to see more things. Was able
to see the beauty that is far more common in my neighborhood than I would
have said before. I started seeing things and thinking how beautiful they
were. Simple things, like the leaf on the stone next to the concrete. Or
the illumination of buildings with the sunlight that crested the low lying
clouds on the horizon. The puddles of water that leapt up under the
pressure of car tires. I think that the clearing out of buzzing thoughts
allowed other parts of my brain to come to the fore and see things new.

I am going to try this mindfulness approach while doing simple chores and
see if it changes my way of thinking. I still like the creative process of
processing distractions, but I like the ability to focus too. And I love
the clarity that let's me see beauty everywhere.
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