How do we cultivate the art of noticing? As I travel during this launch phase of Mindful by Design, the crossing points between mindful awareness, design thinking, and storytelling become even more clear, even more relevant, critical and universal in this age of AI. Everyone has a story to tell. And our ways of connecting with our inner and outer resources, our true natures, using mindfulness, empathy, and imagination, inform how we design experiences; how we engage with the world. Human creativity and well-being makes a difference, as we look toward what makes us thrive. It’s been my true passion to keep working to improve learning and connection in the workplace, in personal life, in schools, and beyond… and it’s a constant challenge and invitation to stretch, grow and dream. I’m a big fan of daydreaming and “zoning out”, which I think gives us the necessary time to wander and wonder. We are creatures who are made, by nature, to question and wonder. How are you “mind wondering”, and what refuels your creative spirit, to keep doing what you do, investigating and inventing along the way?
Our approach to the world changes as the nature of work evolves. Is it “work hard, play hard”, on/off with our jobs, or does it seem like there’s a blend? For me, the personal and professional zones have merged completely, and there’s no such thing as “work-life” balance. It’s a state, and looking at the flow of it seems to be what keeps me centered and intact. While I might work often in a busy environment, I crave the beauty of wildlife and garden space, an artistic sensibility that inspires my senses.
As a focus project right now, a form of mindfulness exercise, I am looking deeply at nature, in this season of change from summer to autumn. As I look at nature that surrounds me, I’m also thinking about places that have helped me to reconnect. Noticing, and aiming to bring those places to life through stories about them that will bring the reader there.
Following these posts is a way to notice, too. In different forms, I’ll introduce noticing exercises, as well as document the stories and places around the world that came to life in those moments for me. It’s an experiment, and expect one post per 3 days, for a total of 8 shared over the next 21 day cycle. 3 weeks of mindfulness, traveling the world.
This is A Mindfulness Moveable Feast. Holding onto every bit of that vacation sensation, I’m specifically highlighting eight places, in various parts of Earth, that have invigorated my senses and served as a mindful respite in the midst of the mayhem. A place, after all, is a space with meaning. This series is dedicated to the art of mixing work with pleasure, keeping all the rigor, and adding mindful relaxation that changes the equation by giving back time! After all, a clear mind, self, and soul make all the difference. With appreciation in and of every sense.