The art of awareness
The word mindfulness can be a little off-putting to some. Ever since celebrities such as Ruby Wax, Oprah Winfrey and Madonna began extolling its virtues, there has been an explosion of books, apps, podcasts and television shows telling us how to eat, garden, paint, drink and even argue mindfully. But, ignoring the hype, what does mindfulness actually mean and what has it got to do with photography and creativity? Well, for starters, it can help to substitute the word mindfulness for any of the following: awareness, observation, consciousness or acknowledgement. Mindfulness is a way of being rather than a goal or something to be earned or obtained. In fact, if you strip it right back, all it really means is paying attention to the here and now without getting side-tracked by thoughts, feelings or emotions. It’s about acknowledging what is going on around you and inside you without passing judgement or becoming caught up in stories.
Despite its roots in Buddhism, mindfulness doesn’t belong to any particular religion or philosophy, it doesn’t require you to sit on a floor cross-legged or twist your limbs into a pretzel shape while chanting ‘om’. It’s not about relaxing or emptying your mind, and it’s not – despite popular belief – the same thing as meditation. Meditation (whether formal or informal) is a way of reinforcing, practising and cultivating mindfulness. Essentially, it provides the groundwork and encourages you to move out of ‘doing’ mode and into ‘being ‘mode. Once in ‘being’ mode you become fully aware of yourself and your surroundings: you feel the breeze on your face, the ground beneath your feet, the sun on your skin etc. You also become more aware of the internal dialogue running inside your head: concerns about the past or future, feelings of boredom, disappointment or excitement. When you’re in ‘doing’ mode, trying to meet a goal or attempting to be super-productive these thoughts can be distracting and all-consuming. But when you’re in ‘being’ mode, you’re able to observe this self-talk and remain detached from it.
Observe the monkey mind Many creatives would argue that they are already mindful. Landscape photographers, for example, might trek for miles, camp in a remote location and then rise early to take advantage of the dawn light. There’s no denying these photographers will have paid close attention to the weather – for safety’s sake as much as anything else – as well as their own physical well-being and surroundings. If you asked them later, they would probably say that they were completely immersed in their work and totally aware of what they were doing at all times. But if you could read their minds while they were actually out on location the reality would be quite different. The fact is, we all have a monkey mind.
This monkey mind likes nothing more than generating noise: thoughts, feelings and emotions that have little use or genuine value. This incessant noise is with us from the moment we wake up to the moment we fall asleep. In fact, it sometimes jabbers on in our dreams too! It wouldn’t be so bad if this internal narrative was full of positive affirmations. If we went around saying, ‘Creativity is in
my DNA’ in our minds every day, this monkey mind might actually be useful. Instead, our monkey mind loves to conjure up mistakes or future concerns and fill our head with them at the most inopportune moments. You might be standing at the foot of a mountain admiring its magnificence when your monkey mind suddenly shrieks, ‘You should have got here earlier, now you’ve missed all the best light.’ Try as you might, you can’t silence this voice, and it begins to taint your experience.
Quit the judgements
Whether or not you’re aware of it, you are constantly judging and evaluating your experiences. You could argue that this is a useful survival technique – after all, setting up your tripod on a windswept beach and scolding yourself for not bringing your waterproof gloves will help you to remember them next time. But this is not the monkey chatter we’re concerned about. No, the monkey chatter we’re talking about fills your head with judgements. ‘There’s no point taking this picture if you don’t
have a wideangle lens,’ it suggests. ‘If you hadn’t spent all of your money on the vet’s bill then you would have been able to afford one.’ Or perhaps ‘The picture you took last year was much better than this – you should’ve stayed at home and cleaned out the fridge.’ This chatter does two main things: firstly, it takes your awareness away from your direct experience – you are no longer in the present; instead, you are lost in thought and only half awake. Secondly, it takes up valuable space in your head – and when there’s less space, there’s less room for creative ideas to flourish.
Trying to silence this monkey mind is impossible. If I told you not to think about a penguin dressed in a rah-rah skirt, I’m sure you’d picture this poor aquatic bird in full cheerleading attire. No, you can’t silence this monkey, but you can quieten it down and, in doing so, make more room for creativity. The first step is to become aware of your thoughts, feelings and emotions as and when they arise. The second step is to ensure that you don’t judge these thoughts – however tempting it might be. When you become aware of a thought, feeling or emotion, just acknowledge it and gently let it go. Ultimately, your job is to become an impartial witness to the workings of your own mind. If you can, try to adopt an air of curiosity. Be patient with yourself. If you find that your mind chases after an emotive thought such as, ‘Dave at the camera club is a better photographer than me,’ then don’t beat yourself up about it. As soon as you realise that you have strayed from the path, you are back to being mindful.
Look for the gaps
If you’re struggling to tame this monkey mind it can help to bring your attention to a physical sensation, such as the breath. Each time you inhale, drawing air into your body, experience it moving in through your nose and out through your mouth. Be curious. Is the air that enters your nostrils warm or cold? Are you breathing into the chest or into the belly? Is there a pause at the top of the in-breath or the bottom of the out breath? (Remember, no judging!). Don’t alter the natural rhythm of your breath, just observe it. If your mind wanders a thousand times, then bring it back a thousand times. It really doesn’t matter. What matters is the noticing. If your concentration starts to wane, try counting each breath cycle – see if you can get to ten without getting distracted. If not, start again at one. When you’re done, let your mind wander. Awareness of the breath is a well-known mindfulness meditation, but you can apply a similar approach to other body sensations too. Try bringing your awareness to just sound, for example. Once you’ve honed your mindfulness skills you can use them on that pesky monkey mind!
In time you’ll find that paying attention to the present moment, without getting side-tracked by thoughts, feelings and emotions, will result in a calm mind and more headspace. And when gaps in the clouds appear, you might find that ideas, perceptions and insights break through like beams of sunlight. When you recognise these gaps as opportunities for clear seeing, there really is no limit to what you can achieve or create.