Mindfulness & Making Space
Throughout this article I am going to ask you a series of questions. I invite you to honestly, and authentically take a moment and answer them to yourself.
From the moment that we all come into this world, we are diagnosed with a terminal condition called mortality. As a living-organism on this planet, we are given a finite amount of time. 24 hours in a day, and however many years until our consciousnesses eventually vacate our meat-bodies. We are inherently limited in the amount of experiences that we can experience, crafts that we can craft, relationships we can develop, and things that we can learn. So why do so many of us live unconsciously/without intention? Are you guilty of this/do you know people who are? Of all of the resources that we have in this world, life and human-potential is the most frivolous to waste. You are valuable. You have the potential to teach children, help save the environment, [insert-something-else-world-changing]. Have you realized it? So often we limit ourselves, and hold onto toxic relationships/environments/behavioral patterns because we are simultaneously afraid to embrace change. What practices do you hold onto in your life that no longer really serve you?
When I got home from backpacking through India after experiencing the death of the man that raised me, I took extreme measures to put this philosophy into action. Whatever was happening in my life prior to that moment of realization, wasn’t leaving me happy/satisfied. I felt lost, unfulfilled and unconsciously meandering through life. I knew I needed a change, but it wasn’t going to happen without taking the risk to let go of all of the unconscious baggage in my life that was occupying my time/space/energy and preventing me from welcoming in new experiences.
I quit my job, broke up with the guy I was dating, got rid of 80% of the clothes in my closet/all of my junk, stopped talking to almost all of the superficial acquaintances that I had, dropped out of school[premed], eventually moved apartments, etc. Some might call this a quarter-life-crisis, but this purge allowed me to get rid of my unconscious baggage and free up space to live with more intention. If you got rid of everything toxic, imagine what the universe could welcome into your life. If we free up space, life will inevitably fill it with new experiences.
I took a risk, but getting rid of [almost]everything lead me to discovering my love of software engineering, making valuable/authentic friendships and developing a conscious acknowledgement that time is a gift, and our most valuable asset. There are so many things that I want to learn. So many skills that I want to develop. When I choose to do something, I am actively choosing it after comparing it against the other ways that I could be utilizing my time, allowing me to gain a conscious sense of what would be most efficient/effective towards facilitating my development as a human.
I wouldn’t recommend such dramatic measures to everyone, but rather see how this can be applied to your own life. Take a moment of introspection and ask yourself if the various ways you allocate your finite energetic bandwidth are really serving you. Do they help your evolution/development as a human? Are some of the people you spend your time around really your friends or are the interactions very shallow? Are you filling your time because you are afraid to be alone with yourself? When we live mindfully, we move towards achieving our greatest/most-fulfilling/authentic potential.
@isisAnchalee || isis[at]ilooklikeanengineer.com
A.I. Writer, researcher and curator - full-time Newsletter publication manager.
8 年We are all alchemists of our own fate, and increasingly we'll have to become more transformative as society itself will perpetually be reacting to innovation, technology advancement and AI. I'm pretty aware that mindfulness is a state of privilege, and between survival and rebirth, I do think people try their best to be present to their deeper selves.
Founder of Automation Mojo
9 年Interesting article. My mother would say you were experience grief, and the changes you made, as a result of the grief, were the way you chose to morn the lose of a loved one. I believe i experienced something similar when my father passed away although not so dramatic. For me, i would classify it as more of an awakening to reality. It gave me alot of drive and i have been able to achieve a lot since then.
Senior Staff Software Engineer - Platform
9 年This is very well written :). It's one of the hardest things in our human experience, and requiring the most discipline, to purge that which does not serve, and SUSTAINABLY replace it with that which serves.
Key Account Manager at Tetra Pak
9 年Congrats on the article Isis!