Mindfulness in the City

It's been one of those weeks.  Started out with a stomach virus that left me weak and bedridden for days (mostly better now) on top of the busyness that comes with hosting a visitor (though highly enjoyed it was!)  We were talking with our visitor, Julian, about mega-rich people at some point, and he brought up someone who, long-story-short, he came into contact with (because of their mega-richness) at (one of) their home(s) which was called something to the tune of Mindfulness Institute.  Julian talked about one of the exercises he was meant to do as a part of a course at this place.  Sent out across the estate to "explore," the participants were instructed to be mindful of the grass they walked on, to deliberate on the sounds and smells, etc.

These sorts of exercises are great, and I do appreciate them.  I was left pondering, though, how mindfulness works for me in this city setting, where mindlessness seems rampant.  It helped, then, that I promptly became sick and spent hours on the futon, too sick to do much more than think.

1.  Mindfulness is knowing which blocks in the sidewalk are loose, and either anticipating the uneven footstep or stepping around the block.

2.  Mindfulness is taking a second to be still in prayer/thought when hearing an ambulance siren as it speeds down your street to the hospital, knowing that that sound means someone's life is in the midst of being profoundly changed.  Even in a city where those sirens seem constant...

3.  Mindfulness is hearing an adolescent girl pass by on the sidewalk outside the house, thinking at first she is whining to her parent(s), but then waiting to hear that she is actually saying, "Pleeease, sunlight, pleeease!"  Amen, sister.

4.  Mindfulness is knowing when to start holding your breath as you pass the fish store to avoid gagging as you walk by. 

I believe we must attempt to be mindful regardless of where we are -- in the middle of a sprawling, pristine estate or in the heart of a bustling neighborhood, rife with injustice.  It brings us closer to knowing who we are, and why we are, as individuals and as a people.

Day trip to Brighton...wind-whipped and misty.