A Noisy Mind



Noisy sky is a term in landscape photography. It makes a landscape more interesting. And is especially helpful in black and white depictions. A clear or quiet sky is often minimized in a landscape. Obviously 2/3rds of the photo in just an awesome turquoise is not optimal and so framing of the image should include less of the quiet sky. Though there are exceptions to all rules.

 But I digress. The subject of this Dark Times Journal edition is a noisy mind. Not a noisy sky. This is about stress and not the perfect landscape.

 And how to achieve a quiet mind. Photography or painting used to achieve that for me. But I seem to have problems of focusing on either because of the noise and the stress. I can blame the noise on the situation Trump has created, the necessity I feel to resist his goals, a busy summer schedule, my addiction to multi-tasking, etc. Or simply that I have forgotten how to clear my mind and breathe.

Friends have advised to watch less news, but that is not a viable alternative for me. My noisy mind seems to obsess about what might be going on I am unaware of like New Mexico leaving the union or the Handmaid's Tale becoming a non-fiction book. And that adds to stress. And stress makes my post closed brain trauma mind forget things. The more I forget the more stress. Vicious circle.

Be Here Now by Ram Das was one of the bibles of my youth. As well as Chop Wood and Carry Water by Joshua Medcalf. Somewhere in my recovery and learning to be competent and achieve things I forgot to practice mindfulness and focus on my present task. So time to seek to quiet my mind again for at least some segment of each day.

 Mother would have called this my bouncing off the walls mode. I prefer runs with scissors. That was what they put on report cards before HAADD was invented and medicated. Nobody will benefit if I totally lose my mind.

 Been colliding with a lot of signals and messages leading me back to my Zen practice days. Time to be here now and listen.

Comments

  1. shadows of nightfallJuly 8, 2018 at 12:13 PM

    The fact that Trump got into office shows how much our country is in discord. You may never find the quiet mind again. I doubt I will either. Putting on the headphones with some of my favorite tunes gets me halfway there.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. JBinford-BellJuly 8, 2018 at 12:23 PM

      The opening chapters of a book on meditation I have begun to read divides mindful seekers between those who remain above the fray as it were and those who seek the quiet to gather strength to confront the evils in our societies. Thus it would seem they believe Trump types are defeatable.

      Delete

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