Stop for a moment. Put down your phone. What do you hear? What do you see? Can you smell anything? Do you even remember how?
Everywhere around us, tiny details comprise the fabric of our life and our experiences, acting as minuscule triggers. Some things we notice but most others we don’t. Some details are visible, others are difficult to catch with the human eye.
Part of this process of slowing down, defining, digging deeper, has involved paying a lot more attention to my surroundings. Yeah, you know, the whole being present, being more aware. It’s actually possible. Difficult, sometimes annoying, but definitely possible. There is so much information on how to practise mindfulness but I don’t believe that something that is supposed to be positive should be such hard work.
It’s more of a conscious decision to sort of slip sideways, to choose to get off of the hamster wheel. To stop falling into the patterns of the socially acceptable. It’s more like a change of pace, a shift into a different sort of life, one governed by values and passion.
Once the shift occurs, it’s not that hard to be present. The noise and distractions fall away. Or so I’ve found in the past months. It’s probably different for each person. But just let me repeat that, if you have to make such an effort to be present then it’s not the real deal. Of course there will be stressful moments, bad moments, stroppy moments, but it’s just easier to deal with. Oh, and let the anger out. We’re all so dead-set on hiding our “negative” emotions, crushing them, eliminating them. We’re all human: throw a hissy fit once in a while, let rage wash over you instead of bottling it up inside. No one will die…
In order to investigate more during the process of slowing down, I decided to start taking long walks, camera at the ready, once or twice per week. Mostly in nature, but I soon started noticing beautiful and intricate textures everywhere around me. I started to notice the details. Now I rarely leave the house without my camera.
All these images of textures led me to think about my own communication, what do I put out there on social media? Is there really any point in posting cute / funny / beautiful things about my life? As my archive of textures has grown over the months and my curiosity increases, I want to share these details with the world. So if you want to follow along, hope over to my Instagram account. Hopefully you’ll start to slow down too, you’ll start to notice the details all around you.
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