Mindfulness

Woke up to a foggy day.  H and I took a long walk to our breakfast spot. It was nice spending time with him we are both busy these days. I am jurying a film festival for a month. Walking gives me a good idea of the neighborhood who lives where, dogs, flowers ...cracks in sidewalks. Gratitude that I am in good health and can walk.

On the way home I noticed an estate sale. I like signage that is not too professional. Large squiggly letters ..
The home was filled with lovely Japanese fabrics, crotchet tools, 70's jeans and beautiful Buddhist prayer beads. I asked the seller, had the woman passed away? Oh no, the young girls responded,"She was a victim of elder financial abuse". Saddens me when I hear this my grandmother also was a victim of this abuse.
I am glad they investigate this more than they used to in the past.
The prayer beads intrigued me I purchased a lovely set with a Buddhist image triptych and pouch for a dollar.

Later in the day I went to a meditation. The talk was on mindfulness. What is mindfulness?

http://www.dharmaseed.org/teacher/68/

“Mindfulness means paying attention in a particular way;

On purpose,
in the present moment, and
nonjudgmentally.”

Kabat-Zinn, if you haven’t heard of him, is a famous teacher of mindfulness meditation and the founder of the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction program at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center.

Paying attention “on purpose”

First of all, mindfulness involves paying attention “on purpose”. Mindfulness involves a conscious direction of our awareness. We sometimes (me included) talk about “mindfulness” and “awareness” as if they were interchangeable terms, but that’s not a good habit to get into. I may be aware I’m irritable, but that wouldn’t mean I was being mindful of my irritability. In order to be mindful I have to be purposefully aware of myself, not just vaguely and habitually aware. Knowing that you are eating is not the same as eating mindfully.

The 12 steps has given me a full life.