I’m currently reading about Mindfulness. In a nutshell mindfulness is referred to as the heart of Buddhist meditation. There’s a good introduction here Mindfulness and one paragraph stood out this morning as I prepared to wash the breakfast pots:
When I wash the dishes each evening, I tend to be “in my head” as I’m doing it, thinking about what I have to do, what I’ve done earlier in the day, worrying about future events, or regretful thoughts about the past. Again, my young daughter comes along. “Listen to those bubbles Mummy. They’re fun!” She reminds me often to be more mindful. Washing up is becoming a routine (practice of) mindful activity for me. I notice the temperature of the water and how it feels on my skin, the texture of the bubbles on my skin, and yes, I can hear the bubbles as they softly pop continually. The sounds of the water as I take out and put dishes into the water. The smoothness of the plates, and the texture of the sponge. Just noticing what I might not normally notice.
As enthusiast photographers we tend to notice more than most. We’re always looking out for photographic opportunities so we see things in the landscape, architecture, people, objects, that others miss. It’s a bit like mindfulness from a visual perspective. Today I noticed the bubbles in the freshly filled bowl and grabbed the camera (an Olympus OM-D fitted with 60mm macro lens) It wasn’t long before I’d taken a series of close up abstract shots of the bubbles…and interestingly they reflect the world in a chaotic way.
and now the scene is recorded I can observe the details and enjoy the shapes. Can you spot what looks like a suited figure?