Mindfulness
Mindfulness: the practice of being aware of your body, mind and feelings in the present moment, thought to create a feeling of calm (Cambridge Dictionary)
Mindfulness is such a ubiquitous wellbeing word I wasn't surprised to see it in the title of Ruth's course. But, in truth, the word doesn’t work for me. After all, my mind is always full, but not always with good things!
At its best, when my mind is in a state of ‘flow’, it’s filled with photographic ideas which explode with excitement, imagination and childlike delight.
But, at its worst, it’s battling with dark, joyless ideas which create a suffocating, disabling greyness.
Nurturing Photography
So, I started compiling a list of words which could replace ‘mindful’ and were better suited to both my experiences on this course and to my reactions to this new approach to photography. And I came with up with wellbeing photography, then mind-easing photography, then stimulating photography, inspiring, releasing, balancing.
Then others in the group added nurturing photography, healing, life-giving, life-affirming, experiential, thought-provoking, contemplative, free-flowing; together with photography which encourages positivity, awareness and childlike curiosity.
And I realised it’s all this and much, much more.