Mindfulness without the Bells and Beads

Chapter 9Week 1: No Trivial Moments

MOVING FROM AUTOPILOT TO AWARE

Two years ago, when I heard of the tragic death of a young boy in our neighborhood, I had just finished presenting a several-week-long series of mindfulness classes and was relaxing and trying to be present with my own son at our campsite just outside Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The news shook me like any news of child-related tragedies often shake parents. I was genuinely despondent and yet simultaneously grateful my son was safe. I'm sure the out-of-the-blue hug I gave him lasted a little too long and was a little too tight for his 3-year-old body to contend with so he wriggled out and went back to digging up our plants to find whatever bugs lived beneath them.

My mind immediately ran an imaginary reel of how the events of that day may have unfolded for the working parents, conjuring up the associated emotions in the process:

Mom or dad drops off the child at school on the way to work, doing it in a rush to get to the office more quickly. Stuck in traffic, annoyed it took too long for drop-off again, committing to a plan to streamline the process. Going through the workday dealing with tasks, getting frustrated at ineffective processes, and venting with colleagues about the boss's latest “good idea.” Sitting in the sterile office of the future-style cube, scanning emails on the all-too-slow work laptop that they've been battling with IT for weeks to replace. Wanting to save time at lunch, they continue scanning ...