It’s my new word…appreSEEation, I love how it rolls off my tongue, and even more, the deeper meaning of appreciation. Lately the dots have been connecting like the starry sky that stretches out as far as the imagination, so good, so wonderful! So the other night while reading “you are here” by Thich Nhat Hanh I came across a section of the book that connected to me, he writes:
“Your eyes may be in good condition, but do you know it?
Breathing in, I am mindful that I have eyes that are still in good condition.
Breathing out, I smile to my eyes that are still in good condition.
In this practice you touch your eyes with your mindfulness, you have this simple insight: your eyes are in good shape, and they still exist. You only have to open them to make contact with the paradise of forms and colors, a true paradise.
….You should recognize that your eyes are there for you, and they are so very precious. They are more precious than pearls.
Your heart is also there for you. Your heart works night and day in order to maintain your well-being. You take time to sleep and rest, but your heart works non-stop to supply all the cells in your body with blood. Have you touched your heart with the energy of mindfulness?
Breathing in, I am mindful that my heart is working day and night for me.
Breathing out, I smile to my heart.
…When you touch your heart with the energy of mindfulness, you are already practicing love.”
What crazy good stuff, sooooo, here’s how I sum it up….
the ability to see beyond sight + mindfulness of your heart (focusing on your heart places you in love, you just can’t help it) = the power to be transformed in how we engage in the world, how we treat others, and how we see ourselves and truly embrace the uniqueness of personalities, cultures, design and so much more. I’m talking true appreSEEation!
After reading the above passages from “you are here” I was struck with a higher appreciation for my heart and my eyes, …more precious than pearls… and reflecting about my past lack of appreciation boggled my mind. Yes, I have written hundreds of lists about what I am grateful for and recognize the kindnesses bestowed upon me by others daily and I am constantly touched by the awe and beauty of the world, but I had not seen as clearly as I did that night. I realized how lucky I was to be alive and even more miraculously still have my eyesight (although I was legally blind almost all life until I had Lasik surgery), after coming close to dying when I was an infant from a very bad eye infection. How could I not have more appreciation for my gift of sight? It’s even more amazing that my Hawaiian mother gave me the name of “Makanani” when I was born because she said I had beautiful eyes. Heellllooooo, I finally could “see” this miracle, I was not blind, but it meant that connecting with my heart on a deeper level made the true difference!
Reflecting even further on my past week, I had an opportunity to attend a workshop on Emotional Intelligence presented by Six Seconds (www.6seconds.org). It was an amazing experience and I learned many new strategies. I am excited to share the “world changing message” I learned to all I come into contact with, and to promote the EQ (Emotional Quotient) Model for children in schools, a top essential for improved quality of life and academics.
During my week’s experience at the workshop, many inquired “what are you doing here?”, not in a mean way, but several were curious why an Interior Designer was among teachers, scholars in psychology, leaders of non-profit groups and the like? I honestly did not know how to answer the question, why was I there? I started to feel consciously different from the other attendees for which I convinced myself that was okay. Perhaps others felt they did not belong either, nonetheless, I persevered and convinced myself that I was going to finish the workshop and “see”. And “see” I did. I saw that even though I was different, so was every individual who attended the workshop, so uniquely different, it made such beautiful sense to me, whoo hooo, how happy I was to be different!!! I finally could appreSEEate how different was good, great and I was happy to be there.
This has been my experience with design, helping people to see differently, and now I see more deeply today than yesterday because of Thich Nhat Hanh and the EQ Workshop/6 Seconds participants (you know who you are). What a beautiful principle, “appreSEEation”.
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