Moving With Mindfulness

Hello people.

The reason I've been away from blogger for a few days is because I have been moving home and my internet connection was temporarily severed. Actually, I've been moving in with my fiance, best pal and mighty companion, Ell.

We have moved to the beautiful, picturesque village of Steyning in West Sussex.

Suddenly, the focus has shifted from connection, simplicity and joining to buying vacuum cleaners, beds and kitchen knives (we still haven't found one). Deciding which colour kettle to buy became a matter of seemingly great importance in the ego's quest to GET the perfect life.

Last night during the vacuum cleaner purchasing trip Ell said she was struggling to be present. I have definitely fallen into this trap a few times in the last week and have found  myself getting distracted with all the things that need do-ing rather than the be-ing that I'm used to.

The Buddhists have a profoundly simple mindfulness practice which involves building beautiful rock gardens only to see them destroyed by monsoons, and each time they are destroyed they go back and build the rock garden again, and again, and again. This is a spiritual discipline which builds right-mindedness; through this practice, the monks are able to be focussed and extremely present with whatever task they are doing.

Thankfully, we didn't bring too much stuff with us into the new flat, which helped create a space for energy to flow freely, thus enabling us to tune in and be guided to choose things for the flat that uplift and inspire.

For example, on the first day we moved, the man in the flat opposite was preparing to move out because his mother had died. I noticed the door ajar and saw antique dolls and some oldy-worldly furniture in the hallway, and I got an intuitive inkling to ask him if he had a writing desk available. He invited me into the flat and showed me a beautiful antique desk, which I purchased for the bargain price of twenty English pounds.

In the middle of this transition where I have sometimes lost my way, I have learned that it is more than possible to move with mindfulness. This is a moment to moment proposition which requires awareness and the willingness to make the radical shift from fear to love. Moving with mindfulness is definately the way forward.

'There is God shaped vacuum in the heart of every man which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by God.' - Blaise Pascal

P.S. We must have created a vacuum - because we manifested a fabulous new vacuum cleaner. Here it is ...