Welcome to the Wakefield Doctrine (the theory of clarks, scotts and rogers)
Today, on TGPT’s Guest Post, we are privileged to have Cyndi Calhoun in the role of Guest Post Writer-clark. We met Cyndi back, in October (the 19th) 2012… her very first comment:
I just read the whole blurb you have on clarks. OMG…I MUST have knowledge. I went back to school, have the equivalent of three bachelor’s degrees and half of a master’s degree – but then I decided it wasn’t worth it. I’d really rather learn everything else on my own time and not be put into a damned box. So…let’s see…so far TODAY, I’ve learned some new blogging tricks, some HTML code, some photography tricks, and I took a short nap after daydreaming about the summertime and how it’s so much warmer…and I’m ALWAYS thinking…I can’t turn my brain off. It’s constant…and yes, the world is hostile. I struggled with teaching. Oh, I could put on the “extroverted, happy face” but it’s hard going out into the big bad world. At least working at home is much more stress free. Part of being a writer is dealing with criticism and I have yet to figure out how to handle it with more grace, but eh…it doesn’t happen that often, so I’ll deal. :) I think clarks also like finding out about themselves…I am fascinated.
I’ve included Cyndi’s entire first Comment, not only because it tells so much about why we’re glad she’s around, but to also provide a benchmark. (The problem with a lot of self-improvement/self-development is often how much the person has accomplished gets lost in the haze of the past). Our friend Cyndi is a remarkable example of self-developing oneself in a balanced and sustaining manner.
…plus she’s funny and kind, talented and strong on behalf of those who do not have someone to stand up for them ( yeah, children and other clarks). lol
…Cyndi?
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Being able to “center” and find mindfulness when you’re surrounded by chaos is a powerful exercise.
Mindfulness allows us to consciously slow life down and concentrate on one task while using all our senses. It has a calming effect.
Our world today is filled with noises, distractions, too-full to-do lists, and countless other activities that drain energy.
But, you can control your reaction to everything around you.
In fact, you can experience and use mindfulness to help stress and calm those jittery nerves.
A Geometric Puzzle
The other day, I was at my in-laws’ house.
It had been an incredibly busy week: work obligations, my mother-in-law went to the ER (she’s okay – she swallowed a fishbone that lodged in her esophagus, but then it dislodged without any extreme measures), and we had family visiting.
On Saturday morning, I was feeling a bit out of sorts as I continued my way into the weekend.
We also had another visitor, Hootie. He’s an Amazonian parrot. I once did an abstract painting of him – here!
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In all the hubbub, I saw my sister-in-law working on a geometric puzzle of sorts.
I saw how calmly she sat in her chair, quietly working out a pattern to a geometric puzzle she’d picked up.
Here’s what she came up with:
When she finished, I asked her if she wouldn’t mind if I tried my hand at the puzzle.
I took it and dumped all the pieces, all the while smiling.
An opportunity for Mindfulness.
I centered myself by taking a few deep breaths and clearing my mind. I already felt more calm.
Because I’d cleared my mind, I had no idea what I was going to create. I just let my senses and eyes take over.
I didn’t think.
First, I grabbed all the light green pieces. I have no idea why – they just felt “right” for whatever I was going to create.
I started piecing them together.
Then I added blue pieces. Again, this was without thought. I just concentrated on my breathing.
I had no idea what I was doing – I just “went with the flow.”
After adding the blue pieces, I somehow arranged an “X” pattern with a square block in the middle. I was pleasantly surprised I had the†exact†number of pieces I needed to make this happen.
I then found red and purple triangles to put together. I thought it looked need if all the little triangles faced in the same direction.
For these pieces, I decided to put them on the “legs” of the X – I just thought it looked visually pleasing. However, I kept in mind that I didn’t have a way this “had to be” – I was in the zone, having completely let go. Even Hootie, with his loud, “Hello! Hello! Want a cracker?” chatter wasn’t distracting me.
I continued to concentrate on my breathing, the colors, the triangles, the feel of the blocks, the “X” itself….
Next, I added orange and green triangle blocks. They ended up on the sides of the puzzle board.
Last were yellow and navy blue pieces. They perfectly filled in the rest of the gaps in the puzzle board.
I put those in another direction to add contrast.
When I finished, only a short time later, I was so relaxed, I thought I could take a nap. In fact, I did – a two hour nap!
Do you use mindfulness in your own life? In what ways do you slow down?
thank you
www. pictimitude.com
LOL. My first comment was THAT?!? Oh boy. :P
I’m a mess, lol. And finishing that damned master’s. And back teaching. Cuz working at home did drive me a little nuts….
that’s the ‘past justifies the future’ effect that made me want to put this comment in… people meet you today (for the first time), they be all, ‘hey you have it so easy! you’re finishing up your Master’s and you have a job that is so suited to your schedule and such’… maybe it’s inevitable that true self-development goes mostly unrecognized, at least by the people who did not see the past.
…and in such as short amount of time, too!! how easy it must have been for you!!*
* lol
Ok, I need to slow down and try something like this, because to be honest I got tired just thinking about it and it is only 7:30 here right now. I know, but I rarely during the week (at least) have much time to indeed just decompress and relax, I guess. But did very much love the pattern you came up with Cyndi and great reminder to slow down enough to find the mindlessness even the smallest of things :)
Janine – haha, I know how busy you are with your sweet, wonderful girls. :D
Haha…but if we can find those special moments to slow down, then yes, it IS worth it. :)
Very cool idea – the puzzle thing. More difficult than you let on Cyndi:). I find “clearing” my mind is quite a challenge these day. LOL
I’m in total agreement with Clark:)
Denise – LOL. Nah, I promise: just a-playin’ around with triangles until something came into view. :P
As for that first comment, dang…I guess Clark is right….lol
OMG I have lost this comment three times… dunno why… but it is helping me realize that I use mindfullness to decrease frustration…. It becomes a way of life with daily practice and does my heart good to realize I use it fairly reflexively ( when I lose comments for example)… Nice post cyndi, I loved your first comment it is so… hmmmm……soooooo…… Clarky! ( I can totally identify with it!)
Zoe – haha, it drive me NUTS when the commenting system does that. :P In fact, it kept saying I had “duplicate” comments in the replies above. Who knows…wordpress worms. Ha!
Anyways, it sound like you’re on the same wavelength here. And “Clarky” – I LOVE it! I will be using that new (to me) word from now on. Clarky…clarky…clarky….I love it. :D
Wonderful post! I need to do things like this more often. All about pushing “pause” on the hectic, rush-rush and standing still for a few minutes. I love the puzzle idea… looks so relaxing and fun!
I think I just might need to try a puzzle like this – lately I’ve been go go go!! Thanks Cyndi for a great reminder here about mindfulness!
My mind is always going. I believe my kids have one of these geometrical puzzles in their playroom. I’m so going to steal it now. Seems very calming. :)
Lovely post Cyndi (and Clark for hosting.) It is great to find mindfulness in little things. A while ago I realised one of my daughters does it with the television shows she watches – she picks up wisdom where you’d never imagine it could be. One of my favourite ways is noticing the space between things, like branches of trees.
Your geometric patterns were gorgeous – so zingy!
Wonderful article and exercise on ‘mindfulness’ ~ think this is why I do photography and need to get back to collage work ~ thanks for the reminder ~ Happy Day ^_^
artmusedog and carol (A Creative Harbor)
Yeah, Cyndi is rather amazing (in terms of range and breadth of talents and such)
Slowing down sounds like a good thing to do, but I haven’t quite figured out how to do it. I think this is why I can’t read a novel or piece together a puzzle or do much of anything that requires too much concentration. Can I blame my children on this? lol No? Oh, ok…I guess I need to stop, take a breath, calm down, and enjoy life a little more before it all slips away from me. Interesting read, Cyndi! Thanks for pointing me to your contribution here.