What Does Mindful Mean?

I see many things discussed about this every day, and while some hit the mark, others miss it, and some do a drive-by.  Mindful has become a buzzword these days, and while some of that is good, there's a lot that is not helpful at the end of the day.

So I'll give you my take on it, and I'm sure some will disagree.  However, what I write will be from my own experience, and what I have learned in the healing work I've been a part of over the past decade.

What Does Mindful Mean?

First off, it has to do with the mind.

Second, in my view, it is a connection between the mind and the body.  This is probably the point in which I differ with many, but again, I am speaking from my own experience and knowledge.

Too often as humans, we live in our head.  Yes, physically we are attached to our bodies, but we are so disconnected from anything we feel there.  No, I'm not referring to the pain that you feel, but an overall sense of being disconnected.

Most of the time we go through our days not fully feeling what is going on in our bodies. We don't stop to check in.  We don't notice how shallow and ineffective our breathing is.  We don't stop to see how stress and tension are affecting our bodies.

We just go through our days as if it is one task to the next, oblivious to what the body feels.  Yes, we need to do this to function and get our tasks done, but we often forget to stop, step back, and slow down or rest.  We think that's only for a yearly vacation, a weekend, or when we sleep at night.

So, while we focus on the mind part of mindful, we usually blow right past the body part.  The body part is where most of it happens.  Check out more on the Enteric Brain to get a better sense of that.

While it is nice to take a walk in the park and notice all that is around us, or to see something we normally don't see in a day, mindfulness is more than that.  It is about seeing and feeling all of these things from deep within your body so that it resonates outward and upward to your mind.

Mindfulness is about finding peace through awareness of all parts of the body, not just what thoughts we derive and create in our mind.  You can reach a level of peaceful contentment in your mind with your thoughts, which can be very helpful, but without the body you're only embracing half of mindfulness.

With feeling more in your body and getting in touch with those deep corners and recesses within you, you'll find that there is more to the mind body connection.  The more you embrace this and feel it and sense it, the more mindful you will become.  You will enhance your overall experience.

While experiences in life, stressors, and other situations keep us in our heads and out of our bodies, it should be our goal to be more in touch with the physical sensations lying beneath the surface.  We don't have to ignore and disconnect from them.  We can experience them and in turn, bring more fulfillment and mindfulness to our lives.

---

Blog Post And Images (c) 2017 by Don Shetterly

• Permission required before any part of this blog post is reprinted, reworded or used in any form. 
• You are welcomed to share the LINK to this blog post.  

---

5 Ways I Cut Sugar Back In My Diet

One of the things I have struggled with in my life, is sugar consumption.  If I tried to cut back on sugar from my diet, it would come at me like a zillion monsters attacking me.  The more I tried, the more I failed.

Before a dear friend passed away from cancer, one of the last things she said to me was, "cut sugar out".  It hit me hard and I know that she was correct.

Sugar is great.  It tastes so good.  It is addictive.  It gives me a high.  I love it.  I love it.  I love it and I want more of it.

Unfortunately, too much sugar is not healthy for the body in what I've learned.  No, I'm not some doctor of nutrition or anything like that.  I'm really speaking about my own understanding and comprehension.

So, here I am trying to get off the stuff and the harder I tried, it came back at me like a boomerang effect.  The more I tried, the more I craved it and then it left me feeling horrible and weak and defeated.  I knew there had to be a way.

Here's what I did.  While this may not work for everyone, maybe something in what I'm writing about will help you.

1. Mind Body and Mindfulness 

   This was not about some thought philosophy or mantras or meditation.  Not that those things don't help because they do.  What I'm referring to here is something more than the standard mind body and mindfulness thinking we all preach that we do.  In this case, I went in and started working hard on my inner self and from a cellular body component, I learned to release and let go of things.  It was about using Unified Therapy to go in and face the fears and demons of my past so that I could reclaim my life.  These things are essential for true growth into awareness and consciousness.

2. Mindful Of What You Eat

   What I mean by mindful is to be consciously aware of what you eat.  It isn't about chastising yourself and saying "I screwed up".  It isn't about counting calories or how much you consume or finding something to beat yourself up on.  It is about observing and noticing how much sugar you eat.  Become aware of the sugar content and sources in the stuff you buy.  You'll be surprised at how much sugar is in things you would not think it was.  Just observe and be aware of it.

3. What can you cut back?

   Normally there is something you can cut back that starts to drop the sugar consumption.  Make it something that is small and you think you can do without.  See if you can go a day or a few days, then maybe a week and a few weeks.  Try it small, build up on the success and use that to help motivate you further.  For me, I stopped buying these big bags of candy and having them sit around at my house.  If they were in the house, I was going to eat them.  By not having them at my house, it made it much easier to just say no.

4. The First Thing You Eat

   I noticed and found this by an odd observation, that if the first thing I ate in the morning had no sugar, it helped me the rest of the day.  Without that sugar fix first thing, my taste buds and neural pathways had a fighting chance.  It is almost like my brain found a new pathway to what I ate, rather than getting the early morning addictive fix which set me up for the rest of the day.  The more I did this, even if I followed it by some sugar in cereal or something else, I was more empowered.  I found I ate less sugary stuff and had less of a desire for it if the first thing I hate was without sugar.  I've checked this out a few times on myself and I get the same result.
   
   

5. Splurge

   As much as you may want to cut sugar out completely, sometimes you just have to let yourself go and splurge.  If I said to myself that tomorrow there will be absolutely no more sugar, I'm sure I would be beating myself up very hard.  If I just work to cut it back but allow myself to splurge every ONCE in awhile, then I've got the control.  I'm empowered.  Now, I don't mean splurge every day, but begin to limit it.  

Find alternative sugar and sweet sources that are healthy and delicious.  By searching for these things and reading the ingredients on labels of the foodstuffs you buy, you'll be helping yourself help yourself.  Don't just replace sugar with something that is not healthy because there are far too many products that I don't believe are as good for you as they claim to be.

I think we all chastise ourselves far too much and the shame just fuels what we eat, including the sugar we take in.  Sugar is very addictive and I'm sorry if the sugar industry does not like that, but if you see how much is added to everything we eat, I think the evidence speaks for itself.  If the sugar industry really cared about health, they'd be trying to put themselves out of business.

A little sugar can be good, but right now we are addicted to sugar.  The obesity and diabetes rates have skyrocketed which I feel are a direct result of sugar.  If you can just cut the amount of sugar down in your diet, you done so much for yourself to make your mind and body healthier.

These are 5 ways I used to cut sugar back in my diet.  What have you tried that helps you?  Let's all learn together.  Leave a comment of what has worked personally for you.

---

Blog Post And Images (c) 2017 by Don Shetterly

• Permission required before any part of this blog post is reprinted, reworded or used in any form. 
• You are welcomed to share the LINK to this blog post.  

---

What Would Our World Be Like

What Would Our
World Be Like

As we start 2012, it seems to be a normal time to reflect upon this past year and to begin looking ahead to the next year.  Although you never need to wait until the end of the year to do this, it seems to be an appropriate time. 

The question I pose to everyone as I share some of my own thoughts is "what would the world be like if" and then you can fill in the blank.  My aim is for deep perception into our role in our day and how we impact the world immediately around our existence.

So what would the world be like if we all chose to stop each day and find time to relax and travel deep within the mind body connection?  What are the possibilities that could exist and how would this affect our overall physical body, our health, the peacefulness and productiveness of the day in following our life's purpose?  Just stop for a moment and ponder what the potential outcomes could be and see how this impacts your own life.

Mindless Behavior Of Instant Society

We live in such an instant society these days. Between twitter, facebook, text messages and cell phones, a minute is a long time! News travels faster via social networking than it does by the old primitive methods of TV.  Our behavior has become mindless in society.

These days, it is so easy to take a video or picture, upload it and have millions throughout the world see it than it has ever been. By the time the 10 o'clock or 11 o'clock news comes on, a majority of people have already heard what is being transmitted.

I'm intrigued though how we as humans communicate in these instantaneous ways. Just today, I had an email from some stranger asking me why I had not contacted them back in regards to a link exchange. I was like, whoa....! Link exchange requests don't rank high on my to do list because most of the time they are from spammers. For someone to think that I was obligated to respond and do this link exchange within 6 days is jaw dropping to me!

Mindfulness With Jon Kabat-Zinn

I was made aware of this video on YouTube at a Google meeting on Mindfulness. I didn't realize that companies out there really thought about things like this and am very thrilled that they have events like this one. The video is about 1 hour and 12 minutes long but to be honest, it went by very quickly. The presenter, Jon Kabat-Zinn actually takes you through a very deep meditation on mindfulness. It is well worth the time to watch this video.

The link to the video on YouTube is below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nwwKbM_vJc&feature=share

Mindfulness is something we all need to learn about and practice. The more we are mindful, the more creative we are, the more centered and powerful we are as we come from a deep place within ourselves. Mindfulness is a force like no other.

Jon Kabat Zinn is an author of several books and speaker on Mindfulness. You can find more about his books available on Amazon.


Further Reading:
1) Mindless Or Mindful (Blog Post 1/9/2011)
2) Healthy Benefits Of Mindfulness (Blog Post 9/18/2010)
3) Mindless Humans (12/1/2009)
4) Mindfulness (9/21/2009)
5) Are You Mindful And Creative? (9/19/2009)




Blog Post & Images (c) 4/15/11 Don Shetterly - use by permission only
http://www.donshetterly.com

Health Benefits of Mindfulness

Ruth Buczynski, President of NICABM, wrote on her blog that there is a teleseminar series coming up beginning September 22, 2010.

The topic of this series is "The Health Benefits Of Mindfulness". For more information and free registration, click here on her blog http://www.nicabm.com/nicabmblog/?p=1365 . You can also click on the image to the left which takes you to a YouTube video about the teleseminar series.

I've participated in some of her previous events and found them to be very informative and helpful. It looks like this one has some excellent speakers and great topics.


Some of the speakers include:


Daniel Siegel, MD. - The Mindful Therapist
* Why mindfulness can make health and mental health practitioners more effective
* How quantum theory could revolutionize therapeutic possibilities
* How the development of trust leads to brain growth
* How mindfulness can facilitate neural integration


Tara Brach, PhD. - The Mindful Path to Radical Acceptance
* The trance of unworthiness revisited
* The role of intention in healing
* Antidotes for Inadequacy: Finding presence through RAIN
* A mindful approach to fear
* The contraindications of mindfulness in working with traumatic fear
* The three gateways to a fearlessness
* The essential process of healing from a buddhist perspective


Rick Hanson, PhD. - Neurodharma: How to Train the Brain Toward Mindfulness
* The neuroscience of mindfulness
* 5 Essential inner skills for psychotherapists
* The neural benefits of meditation
* How cultivating equanimity can enhance the treatment of trauma
* How mindfulness can overcome evolution's paranoid trance and increase feelings of safety
* The two wings of psychological growth and contemplative practice


Sylvia Boorstein, PhD - A Path to Happiness:
* How to help your patients quiet the mind and lower anxiety
* Restoring the mind to balance after disruptive events
* Working with difficult mind states
* A buddhist approach to meeting life's changes
* A realistic path to wisdom and compassion


Ronald Siegel, Psy.D - Harnessing Mindfulness: Fitting Practice to Person
* Mindfulness: Why all the interest now?
* Crafting mindfulness practices to fit the needs of different people
* Introducing mindfulness to individuals with diverse beliefs and backgrounds
* The common mechanism beneath almost all psychological disorders
* Tackling resistance: the heart of mindfulness-oriented treatment
* Starting with safety — then turning toward the sharp points
* Modifying practices for anxiety, depression, and other difficulties


Elisha Goldstein, PhD - A Practical Approach to Mindfully Reducing Stress
* How Mindfulness is Being Used as an Antidote to Stress in the Workplace
* How to Navigate Mind Traps Using Mindfulness
* Why Focused Attention May Be the Key to Stress Reduction
* The Great Unnamed Epidemic: Lack of Self-Compassion
* How to Use Mindfulness to Calm Anxiety and Eliminate Stress
* How to Incorporate Mindfulness into Personal Coaching


*Read other articles on Mind Body Thoughts Blog

Mindless Humans

Often in our day, we have so many influences that determine the course of our actions, our thoughts, our consciousness and in general just how we view our day. Yet, we fail to see the totality of these individual events as they dramatically impact our lives. We often see them as unconnected events without any significance to the higher purpose of our self or of the universe as a whole.

What events am I referring to? These events are the moments in our every day existence that we barely notice yet they account for the many tasks we do. They are things we have to do in order to take care of ourselves or family members in any given day. It may be a job that we go to, running our kids to daycare or after school events or dealing with a myriad of mundane tasks. Yes, all these tasks are important and critical to our lives. For if we stopped doing them, there would be serious repercussions for us. Even watching TV shows and news, while appearing to inform or entertain you, may actually result in you being disconnected and not conscious or mindful.

So if these mundane tasks are important than what is your point? When was the last time, you walked out the door in the morning and just listened to the birds sing with joy? When was the last time you went to lunch in your day and stopped to pause for a moment to feel the sun hitting on your face giving you a warmth and energy that felt so invigorating? When was the last time, while taking your child to daycare or an activity that you truly listened to what they were saying and not just thinking about all the things you needed to get done? When was the last time, you just stopped for a moment and noticed your breath and your body and just how good it felt to do that?

We all have our mundane tasks in sometimes our mundane life that we have to do. That is a fact of life unless you are a lottery winner and can pick and choose everything you do in life. However, even people who are wealthy have mundane tasks that they must do. All of us have to get out of bed at some point during the day and eat, groom ourselves and do whatever it is that we feel is important. No matter how fortunate or wealthy we are, these things are a given for our day. Since we can't escape these normal tasks, can we not enjoy them in a mindful way?

As stated by Ellen Langer in her book, On Becoming an Artist: Reinventing Yourself Through Mindful Creativity (page 11), "In many small ways we have learned to become mindless without questioning why we do so.". This is a powerful statement and is what I'm referring to as I talk about being mindless during our mundane tasks that we do each day. We all do it, no matter who we are or how advanced we are. Some people are better than others at bringing mindfulness into their days instead of just being mindless.

So what can we do? One of the things that each of us can do is just taking a moment out of our day and being with ourselves. We can do this by spending a few moments (30 seconds would be enough for this exercise) and noticing our breath. Feeling the rise and fall of our breath, how shallow or deep it is and even how rapid or slow it is will connect us to our breath. By connecting to our breath, we will connect our mind with our body and if you stay with this exercise for a few moments, you'll begin to feel the effects of it on your body in how centered you feel, how at home you feel and even the tension within yourself. You need not pay anyone for an experience like this because you can do it with yourself at any time of the day or night. It is simple but effective. Eckhart Tolle in his book discussions with Oprah Winfrey on A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose (Oprah's Book Club, Selection 61) did a very powerful example of this. He just had everyone sit there for 30 seconds wherever they were at and focus on their breath. It was an amazing experience for many and I once again saw the power of something that was this simple.

Another simple thing we can do is when we are walking out the door in the morning, just stop and listen to all that we can hear. Some of you may have many noises such as cars and city sounds but see if you can listen beyond that. How many different birds do you hear singing? How fast are the chirps coming from the birds? Is the wind rustling through the leaves of the trees and how does that sound? You may hear a dog barking in the background or a cat meowing. What other sounds do you pick up?

If sounds do not work for you, try picking up on the colors you see as you walk out of your house. Can you notice the different colors of the landscape around your house or your neighbors? What if you look at the trees and see all the colors on the tree? How many different colors are there and how many different shades of the color green can you see? I'm only scratching the surface with all that you can see because the same things can be applied if you just look at the sky and clouds.

There are many ways you can be mindful in your day including feeling the warmth of the sun as you step out of a building or staring at the clouds and creating cloud images in your mind. You could even take a moment when you're in the shower and feel the sensation of the hot or cold water on your skin. Giving yourself plenty of time to eat so that you can actually taste and enjoy your food without having your daily tasks flooding your conscious mind. These are a few examples and if you practice being mindful instead of mindless, you'll find many more.

Please don't stop here thinking this is all that mindfulness is for it is much more than that. Try to take all that you pick up in these exercises and see how it makes you feel within your body. Do you get a warm glow or tingle? Do you feel goosebumps on your skin? Do you feel your body sink down into a state of relaxation? Do you sense your breath slowing down and becoming fuller?

There are so many ways that we can be impacted by becoming mindful and when you feel it in your body, you have truly crossed over from being a mindless human to being mindful of your life, your day and your moments. At this point, life will be much more rewarding and abundant for you while becoming more conscious.

Self Compassion

I'm A Screw Up!

How many times, have we thought silently or out loud, that we are screw ups? You are free to raise your hand and don't worry, no one will snicker or say anything because if they do, they will answer to me. So, go ahead and raise your hand! Yep, and if you look around the room, there are more hands raised than not. That should tell you a little bit about your own self. Of course I know if your own self would listen, you would not be here raising your hand, right? Ahhh, but I'm being fictitious of course in a way and in a way, I'm hoping to enlighten our own thinking a bit.

Growing up, I had to be on top of my game 24x7 and if I let up for one minute, the results could be frightening and horrifying to say the least. No mistakes were allowed or tolerated in my house. Of course, it might be important to note that what you may understand about the definition of "mistake" is much different than mine. A mistake was something that was when you deviated from what my father deemed to be appropriate in that moment. For example, if you walked a certain way on one day, it might be fine. The next day, it might be totally inappropriate and invoke the almighty wrath of God himself. There were many instances of this each and every day.

Of course, I also learned to strive for love, support and recognition from my father by trying to be perfect in everything that I did. There was no substitute as I was taught for not being perfect and the church backed this up by urging us to be perfect as Christ was. I tried my hardest in everything that I did to out think, out smart and make sure that I did not committed the bad sin of mistakes.

However as life has gone on, I'm beginning to understand how these things I grew up with and hold as self evidence for my life, are based upon false truths of control and manipulation. What my mind thinks is true as a result of what I was taught, is not truth at all. It is someone's attempt to control, manipulate and dominate me into their own securities and lack of self control. I'm sorry if that bursts your own bubble, but it was surely true in my case.

As I continue to evaluate these things, I see just how much this robs me in life of fulfillment, joy and adventure. It holds me back from all that can be in my life and it makes life a miserable experience. One boss I had, told me that I was much harder on myself than they would ever be on me. That is an eye opening statement to say the least! And yet, to this day, I still struggle with this issue. It haunts me and it controls me as if it were my king.

When I'm playing the piano and recording a song, I hear the "mistakes" in what I create when no one around me ever hears that. They hear a beautiful piece of music while I'm picking it apart as the world's greatest music critic. Others hear the beauty while I miss the beauty. Perfection is something I continue to strive for even though I know that it is virtually impossible.

One of the books I have been reading lately talks about mindfulness and with it, I'm trying to step outside of my little box and shell that I have so beautifully crafted, to experience something different. I'm learning that the more I live in a state of mindfulness, the more I experience the true beauty of all that I create in a day. Yes, there are most likely mistakes or things that we would rather not happen but through living in a mindful way, we give ourselves the option of seeing mistakes as opportunities. This leads to joy and empowerment and so much more for our lives.

I will admit that it isn't easy to live in a mindful way but I'm working on it. Sooner or later, I hope that the mindfulness will replace those pesky chattering voices in my head.

Mistakes

Mistakes are something that I've always been pretty hard on myself throughout my entire life. There are plenty of reasons as I'm sure many others out there would attest to as well. I could delve into the details of all of these, but it most likely would not further this particular discussion. Of course, it is important to note that I am not saying you should not travel into these areas of your life. On the contrary, I feel it is important to go in and reclaim these misfires of communication in your mind that distort mistakes. Once you do, you offer your brain a different path to travel when these circumstances come up.

I am very creative but as I create, I get very critical of myself. This is especially true when it comes to creating music. Most of the music I play is songs that I create in the moment. They are not repeated from anyone or anything but totally what happens at the moment my hands rest on the keyboard. If you had the opportunity to be around me when I am creating, you would more than likely hear me say at some point as I was listening to a playback of the song, "there was a mistake". To the average person or even the talented musician, they would not hear the mistake. That is because what I call a mistake is how what I am hearing playback to me is not how my mind heard the music come together. And yet, I am realizing now that those little moments that I call mistakes have led to some wonderful moments in the songs I have created. It has given them a depth and dimension all to their own that without these "mistakes", they would not be all that they are.

One of my favorite authors, Ellen Langer in the book "On Becoming An Artist" writes about mistakes in the following quote on page 81

If we know just where we are going we can’t go anywhere new. Mistakes not only set the stage for a mindful approach to the work at hand but also reveal our individuality. When we all act according to the same plan, our final products are likely to look the same, just as machine-made rugs do. Our “errors,” by contrast, stand a chance to be both unique and interesting. The difference between a line drawn with a ruler and one drawn by hand is that, in the latter, the individual shines through.

So if we feel we really have to embrace that we make mistakes in life, why not try turning the tables on the thought process for a moment. If we see mistakes as an opportunity towards greater awareness or insight, than the person who makes many mistakes, has so many opportunities in life. Just imagine having all those opportunities.

Of course if we take the mindful approach to what we consider mistakes, than all that you are and all the potential you have, has the opportunity to shine as bright as the brightest star.

The Many Dimensions Of Life

© 9/21/09 Don Shetterly - #1 (click thumbnail to enlarge picture)

This is the first painting I’ve ever painted outside of elementary or junior high school. I don’t really see myself as a painter but I do enjoy putting colors together and trying to find the different depths of dimensions that the eye may or may not pick up.

Maybe in some ways, this is how I see my current life at the moment. I guess if it is like my music, my creativity usually depicts my current mood, moments and life
.
In life, there are many dimensions and so is the same true in this picture. Even if you look at any one part of it, within those parts, you will see different dimensions through the use of colors, textures and the layering of the colors and textures. The dimensions of this painting are many and vary from the obvious to the almost hidden from view.

As life goes, there are always mountains. Sometimes we are climbing the mountains and other times we are looking at the mountains from afar. Within the mountains, there are many beautiful trees and snow covered peaks, but underneath, there is the grey rocky soil.

Nestled within the mountains is a lake of refreshment and peace and calmness. It is full of depth in itself and offers an oasis within the mountains we climb. While it may look out of place to the overall aspect of the mountains, this is usually true of how we find those peaceful moments within the challenges. They are not always straight forward and obvious but sometimes often hidden from view and from a different viewpoint than we may normally look.

Running through the lush hillside of earth and grass, is a winding river with many crooks and turns. Even sometimes before we get to the mountains, we follow a path which may not be straight and known. Often it is filled with the unknowns and the surprise bends and turns. But it leads us further into the mountains and the challenges and it also points the way to the lake we will need in the future.

Our house or our life is filled with colors and in this painting, it reminds us that each day we get to choose the colors we want to create the story book of our lives. There is no right or wrong in what we choose but there are many colors to choose from. Our life and our house may have many windows in it which some are open and others are obscured from view.

Following upwards to the sky, you may notice all kinds of things from the different colors and textures to the hint of clouds. Never when you look at the sky do you see one solid color. There are always varying colors and often clouds to some degree in some part of the horizon. Our life is much the same way in that even the way we see it, there is so much more. It isn’t just a one color “blue sky” type of life. It is much more than that.

Last but not least is the angel that stays close to me. I never fully feel alone even when I get moody and I’m struggling because I know the angels are around me. There is way too much evidence to refute any suspicions and denials. While my depiction may not be like others would see them, this is how they reference in my mind and my life would not be complete without an angel around me.

Mindfulness

Mindfulness is an effortless, simple process that consists of drawing novel distinctions, that is, noticing new things. The more we notice, the more we become aware of how things change depending on the context and perspective from which they are viewed.


Pg 5, "On Becoming An Artist - Reinventing Yourself Through Mindful Creativity" by Ellen Langer.

Are You Mindful and Creative?

At one time in my life, to be creative in my mind, meant to be a painter, a writer, a musician among other things. Creative meant to me, something you did in your spare time that was only for these things. Outside of that, I always figured that creativity really had little place in my everyday life. Sure, many of the companies I have worked for gave lip service to thinking outside the box, but few rarely nurtured the concepts past an evaluation period or company meeting.

For most of my life, I did not think I was that creative. It was not something that was allowed to be in existence while I was a kid growing up except for when I put together model semi trucks or various crafts my mom would buy me for Christmas. It was always about finding a job that you could make decent income at and functioning in life like our society requires us. There was no time for creative moments unless you did them on your own time and there was no support for this.

Yes, I was able to practice and learn the piano as a kid, but whenever I tried to be creative and just play from my center of creativity like I do today, it was often met with criticism by those who could not even play one note. I still remember the time I was creating in the moment with some music and while it wasn't a polished piece of music at that moment, my father made sure he told me that I made many mistakes. This was not helpful and it led me to hide my create in the moment capacity if anyone was around within hearing range.

Following the rules of society, I went to college and pursued a degree in a field of study I enjoyed. After graduation, I found a job that was fun and rewarding which turned into a more technical computer role. As I began to look at life and evaluate where I was, I saw myself as someone working on a computer in a solitary office cubicle for the rest of my life. I did not see the creative side in me at all and so I brushed it aside. It was not until events later in my life that I began to embrace the creative side of myself which had always been there. I just had not been open to seeing this side of myself because I did not feel it would serve any purpose to accomplishing what society expected of me.

And as I evaluate all of this while I just started reading the book "On Becoming an Artist: Reinventing Yourself Through Mindful Creativity",
maybe - just maybe - I'm more creative. In fact, I know I am more creative than I ever let on to be. I'm just beginning to embrace that creativity and allowing it to be more of who I am, rather than something I pull down off the shelf when I feel like I have the time.

In the book, I am seeing that to be mindful is to be creative and to be creative is being mindful. Being creative gives us the essence and enjoyment of life that we so deserve. Yet, if we only attempt to use it on occasion, we are missing so much for our lives. Being creative and being mindful is not just for a select few but it is present in each one of us, if we allow it to be. It does not matter how we choose to be creative but that we choose to be creative and mindful. Creativity and Mindfulness are like partners that go together.

Page 4 - On Becoming An Artist - by Ellen J. Langer
This book is about the roadblocks that stand in the way of our natural creativity. It is intended to be a guide to opening up creative engagement on a daily basis in all that we do.

Negative Vs. Positive Thinking

I'm amazed at some of the research studies that are done and the ways they come about creating a conclusion. One such study was written about in an article in Time Magazine, Self Help Through Negative Thinking.

In the article, the researches suggest that thinking positive actually drives you more into the negative patterns. They go further in making the statements that the more you are challenged in your thinking or if someone tries to change your thinking, the more set you get in your ways. Sorry, but I'm summarizing the article into a small nutshell here.

There is a time and place for everything and to view things narrowly through a window of survival where little human growth and awareness takes place, is painting half a picture. At times, positive thoughts help a person hold on when they are in the midst of despair just long enough that they can grab the next rung on the ladder. Sometimes a positive thought can even allow a person to raise their head just enough to look over the peak of the mountain and give themselves the knowledge of just how far they have come. Sometimes a positive thought gives a person the motivation to take the next leap into the unknown. To say that positive thoughts invoke negative reactions and that's the end of the story, is just plain inaccurate in my view.

Of course one of the conclusions they draw towards the very end of the article is that some of the mind body practices which teach people to go into the negative, accept it instead of fighting it can be very effective. In the article however, they fall short in really making a proper connection between the thoughts and the body and mindfulness.

To confront the negative issues and bring it into your awareness through mindfulness while mixed in with positive thoughts can be extremely healing, rewarding and life altering. One of these aspects without the other may not necessarily lead to a break through or a furthering of the person into consciousness. Positive thoughts alone will only lead the body so far down its path but when you combine that with connected mindfulness with the body, it is like strapping on a jet engine and taking off!

It is fine to study things and understand things but let's not draw conclusions without all the facts and in ways that really are not helpful to humankind. That is called fuzzy math in my view and some days it is more hurtful than helpful.