Our Indescribably Magnificent Worlds

“The moment one gives close attention to anything, even a blade of grass, it becomes a mysterious, awesome, indescribably magnificent world in itself.” — Henry Miller

Mindfulness is about paying attention to our present moment experience.  But even when we pay attention, the mind can filter what we are most aware of.  We may, for example, be very aware of the fact that it’s taking our laptop longer than normal to turn on.  Then we may be aware of our rising frustration at the time that we’re losing as we wait.  Meditation can help us create the healthy habit of mind that helps us to see a broader picture when we pay attention.  In this case, we can train our mind to recognize that, even though our computer is a bit slow today, it is vastly quicker and more useful than what we used just five years ago.  In broadening our perspective, we move from a heightened state of anxiety to a sense of abundance.  From this place of feeling as though our needs have been met, we are more likely to feel well physically, treat others, and ourselves with kindness and generosity, and have an overall sense of flourishing or happiness.  We’re not shutting out any part of our experience, but are training ourselves to see our reality more fully.

But for most of us this takes practice.  Luckily, gratitude can be practiced anytime, anywhere for any length of time.  As Henry Miller noted, literally anything we attend to can inspire awe in us.  By way of example, select one thing that you are in physical contact with right at this moment (chair, piece of clothing, table, cell phone….)  If you really pause to behold this thing that you’re touching, is it not possible to tumble down a rabbit hole of wonder and gratitude:  perhaps for its shape, color or texture, for the way it serves its purpose and supports your activity, for the fact that it’s accessible to you in this moment, for the people who designed it, created it, or brought it into your life…?  

How many moments of our life can we flip from a sense of lacking to a sense of abundance?  

We hope you’ll join us this week as we engage in the practice of gratitude.

CMP is a 501c3 nonprofit. All of our weekly sessions are free and open to the public, but donations are essential to our sustainability. Checks, cash and credit cards are accepted and donations are tax deductible.

Checks can be given to facilitators at our weekly sits or mailed to:

Community Mindfulness Project

P.O. Box 1713
New Canaan, CT 06840.

Credit card donations are accepted on our website: CommunityMindfulnessProject.org.

Stay up-to-date on all CMP news and happenings by following us on Facebook, Instagram, Meetup and Insight Timer.  

We thank you!