40
B+WW
e humans are a
funny lot, from the
moment we wake
up in the morning
we are in a rush to complete
everything on our ‘to do’ list
before our head hits the pillow
at night. We pride ourselves on
our ability to multitask: texting
people while queuing in the
supermarket, listening to music
while driving, checking social
media while eating our lunch.
We are constantly doing
something, measuring the
success of our day by how
much we can cram into it.
As we tackle each job, a
voice shouts inside our head
criticising, or occasionally
praising, our every move.
As we stand in the
supermarket queue we become
aware of a rack of chocolate bars
nearby. Within seconds, the
inner dialogue begins: ‘They
look nice; I shouldn’t have one,
but I’ve had a really tough day. I
can’t believe what happened in
the meeting this morning. That
guy’s got it in for me. Maybe
I should look for another job.
If I quit now, how will I pay the
bills? I don’t want to let
everybody down.’ And so on.
But what has this got to do
with photography? Well, when
our mind is preoccupied with
thoughts about the past, or
concerns about the future, we
lose our connection with the
present. If we stand before a
mountain with our camera
cocked and ready to go but
our mind is distracted, there
is no limit to the one-sided
conversation we can have
with ourselves. This self-talk
can be destructive, and it takes
up valuable headspace, space
that could be used for more
creative thoughts.S
o how can we silence
this inner critic? Well
we can’t, not entirely
anyway. What we can do
is turn the volume down a bit.
Let’s return to the mountain for
a minute. You’ve been standing
there for a while, your feet are
getting cold, and your mind
is wandering. The diatribe is
When we’re in touch with our surroundings we notice connections between seemingly disparate objects. in full flow, ‘This is a waste of38-43_MINDFULNESS_180 ER/MB.indd 4038-43_MINDFULNESS_180 ER/MB.indd 40 16/07/2015 11:4916/07/2015 11:49