New Landscapes, living with what the Buddists call "Beginners Mind"
"The real voyage of discovery consists not in seekiung new landscapes, but in having new eyes."
-Proust
My buddist friends always speak of this wonderful and magical thing called "Beginner's Mind", my Nana used to call it getting a "Fresh Prespective", I like to say "Open your eyes and really see for once!". Whatever you call it, sometimes you just have to open yourself to experienc ing life anew, seeing things in a different light, noticing what you have never seen before. Oddly, it is not all that hard. We all do it naturally when we go on vacation, we shift our minds into "observer mode" and pretend we are 2 year old again and are excited and interested in all that is around us. When we are on vacation we try new thiungs, we visit new places, and wwe are just naturally upbeat and optimistic, life thrills us for those couple of weeks!
Contrast that to with our normal, at home lives. We take many things for granted, we fall easily into ruts, and our daily routine blind us to discoveries that lie right before our eyes. When we are "at home" we never visit the attractions and sights that vacationers/outsiders travel miles and hours to see. For instance, here in San Francisco I can count on one hand the number of friends that have ventured out to see the new Science Exhibit in Golden Gate park, though it is getting rave reviews Nation Wide, and has even been featured in the New Yorker!
It is my believe and contention that we miss out, in our normal daily lives, on all sorts of opportunities simple because we are not looking for them, and and don't see them, though they lie right in front of our eyes. I believe that we must learn to live in a state of "Staycation", be open to the wonder that is around us ever day. We must engage our lives and practice daily that attitude we so easily adopt when we are on vacation, noticing and experiencing all that our environments have to offer.
So, just for tooday, I will, (and I challange you to), open my eyes and see the world anew. I will try and live in a state of wonder, and notice what has been there all the while, waiting for me to see!
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