I was just wondering whether I should have a Lenten practice this year, when the UUWorld popped up in my e-mail inbox with an article about #UULent, a photo-a-day practice. Something I know about myself is that 47 straight days of anything is very challenging (Lent practices of privation skip Sundays, but this practice continues through Sundays, with a twist). However, if I only hit 30 out of 47, that will be 30 days of attention to a spiritual matter.
Today’s word is mindfulness, and the internal process that occurred when I saw this outside a restaurant window today exemplified . I saw the light coming through these leaves and two thoughts came into my mind simultaneously:
How beautiful!
It’s a geranium, and I don’t like geraniums.
I have a category in my mind–geraniums–and a judgment about it–I don’t think they’re beautiful. Mindfulness allows perceptions in (“How beautiful!”) that don’t fit in my categories, and even challenge them.
So I am beginning this season with gratitude for this geranium, the sun, and the prompt from creators Mr. Barb Greve, Karen Bellavance-grace, and Alex Kapitan to consider mindfulness with my camera. I also want to express an extra thank you for giving me a gentle way out of a long dry season of blogger’s block.
If you care to join me, I’ll be posting daily on Twitter @AmyZMorgenstern (hashtags #UULent, #UUCPA) and also on Facebook–please connect there, or in the comments, and I’ll look forward to seeing your photos–whether one or 47.
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February 12, 2016 at 10:34 am
K.L. Allendoerfer
Thanks for this. I decided to do it, not every day, but some days. I feel similarly that 47 straight days of anything is pretty challenging, and I gave up anxiety for Lent already.
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February 12, 2016 at 11:30 am
K.L. Allendoerfer
This is my post for day 3: https://klallendoerfer.wordpress.com/2016/02/12/uu-lent-day-3-quiet/
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February 13, 2018 at 1:04 pm
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