Photography as Peace

Carving Peace
©2015 Nancy Lundebjerg

As much as I am enjoying the popularity of the Decontructed #ThickenedLiquidChallenge,  it's time for another post.  Truth be told this blog very rarely experiences triple digit traffic and so for a post to get there within 5 days and then go on to surpass Lions Eating Dinner is big news in my little corner of the internet.  Obviously I was helped along by the fact that it was in response to a challenge from the creators of GeriPal and tagging on to their effort to increase health professionals' awareness of the pros and cons of prescribing thickened liquid.

Kelsey Still
©2015 Nancy Lundebjerg

But I digress which is particularly crazy given that this post is one about mindfulness and the practice thereof.  Believe me when I tell you that I rarely meditate -- unless one counts zoning out at some particularly inappropriate time (like during the sermons of my youth).  So, I was surprised to find that I actually practice mindfulness pretty much every day upon opening my daily missive from Harvard Business Review (HBR) last November (yes, sigh, I have been thinking about writing this post for that long).  The piece was about using one's daily commute to practice mindfulness -- which HBR so very helpfully defined as being all in when it comes to the present moment.  Of course, HBR was talking about those of us who commute by car and maybe not so much someone like me who is usually on foot or the subway or in a cab (having weaned myself from my daily cab habit over the past year).  But the piece obviously resonated.

Stranger Portraits
©2015 Nancy Lundebjerg

So how does one practice mindfulness amidst the hustle and bustle of NYC?  For me, it's mainly with my camera or iPhone.  It's at that time of day that my mind slowly empties out as I begin to observe what is around me looking to see something I've never seen before or to see something I've seen before in a new light.  It's actually pretty extraordinary how quickly my mind becomes fully engaged with what I am seeing around me and the thoughts that otherwise occupy pretty much my every waking moment just vanish from my head.

Photography as meditation.  Photography as mindfulness.  Photography as peace.

Doors Opening
©2015 Nancy Lundebjerg