The Interior Landscape

25   Mindfulness with a Twist

Be still with yourself

Until the object of your attention

Affirms your presence

—Minor White

Sitting alone near my camp on the edge of a high-desert mesa, I watch as a large haboob (sandstorm) sweeps over the valley floor several hundred feet below me. An unpleasant electronic chirp emanating from my phone jars me out of a moment of flow, but my annoyance is short-lived. A message from a friend appears on the screen. He has just arrived at the summit of a remote peak in the Mojave Desert, hundreds of miles away from me, and has shared a snapshot of his impressive, hard-won view. I describe to him the spectacle I just witnessed and add jokingly, “Should we be fearing what we may be missing out on?” I’m referring ...