A few years ago, I was walking – okay, okay – I was running through the streets of NYC’s Flatiron district on my way home.
With the “no walk” sign making me second guest myself, I darted my gaze from left-to-right to see if I could make it across. The cars were at least 20 feet away as I dashed across like a mad woman.
Was I running late? Nope.
Would I be reprimanded if I was late? Nope.
Of course not, I was going HOME from work.
Finally, held back from dashing by oncoming traffic at the next crosswalk, I was breathing heavily. I looked away from the ground at the sun beaming through the buildings from the Westside. And when I looked up, it perfectly highlighted the shape of the historic Flatiron building.
I was in this neighborhood every day. Yet, the beauty and architecture of this landmark had escaped me.
Here I was living in the best city in the world missing most of what makes it so special.
As I reflected, I realized that I moved through most of my days this way – unintentionally and mindlessly.
I was always thinking ahead or behind but rarely RIGHT NOW.
In the middle of a meeting I’d be thinking…”what am I going to have for dinner tonight?”
And during dinner, it was…“this weekend is going to be so fun.”
I wasn’t engaging in conversations the way I wanted to and was missing out on the fun. It was also a time when I wasn’t satisfied being me; a time when moving through my days felt difficult – every move contrived and planned. It was a time when I blocked myself from FEELING anything too much.
I’d heard a lot about the benefits of mindfulness and meditation, but I didn’t know how to start.
Could I really sit alone with myself for 10 minutes? S-C-A-R-Y.
But I did it, and the results made me feel more engaged, in tune with myself, creative and gave me more compassion for myself.
My podcast guest, Chris Aimone of Muse explains it so eloquently,
“if you let yourself sink in and let these feelers of awareness and get curious suddenly you realize there’s a whole lot of stuff there you didn’t know was there even though you thought you did.”
Learn more about this episode and Chris’s experience using technology to enhance meditation practices on the podcast.
Or read more about my experience learning how to embrace a more mindful life in this blog post.
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