I’m decidedly old school, at least by today’s standards. That said, in my college years transcendental meditation was a popular means to acheive calm and collectedness and many of my friends received their mantras and meditated daily. I was not one of them. Today I awake to my Apple Watch starting my day with coaxing me to take a few minutes of mindfulness. According to my Apple Watch user guide the mindfulness app encourages me to set aside a few minutes a day to “focus, center, and connect as I breathe.” That is sound advice. Dialing back to my college days, I was fortunate, for many reasons, to have attended Hampshire College in the early to mid 1970s. One of the benefits was that I was able to have a dog with me for those four years in Amherst and I had my dog Josh with me from the first day on campus to my graduation. After my freshman year, which involved a great deal of social development, usually late at night, I set my bed in dorm rooms right in an east facing windows, as close to the glass as I could get. My goal was to get up as soon as the sun tipped up in the east, and go for long walks in the woods and fields surrounding campus with Josh out in front blazing the way. This was my personal TM then and, if you will, my mantra was the sound of birds greeting the day and declaring their territory. It was a very thoughtful, reflective time of the day. Today my personal mindfulness is achieved when I set out in the morning well before first light and photograph landscapes, seascapes, or activities at sunrise. A couple of mornings ago I found my “center” as I flew my drone over the Ocean City Inlet as fishing boats set out in search of a happy day for the fishers on board. As I saw the world through the eye of the drone flying above the breaking day I was at peace, completely absorbed in the moment, focused, and fulfilled by the photographs I was making with anticipation of the joy of sharing that visual moment later with others. That is my mindfulness. Achieved by being there. Enjoy the view I had that morning.
