Taking an Interest

What we mean by "being present"

I often find it hard to write about concepts in mindfulness - they really do need to be experienced - but every now and then when I’m out and about I’ll see a real world reminder of an idea.

Out for a cycle a few weeks back, my mind off somewhere else, I saw two people stopping to look in the water before they cycled on.
When I came up to where they had been I decided to stop and see what they had been looking at…

(if you’re viewing in email clicking the video may take you to the Substack website)

I spent about 15 minutes watching the fish come and go and flash silver as the light caught them.

We talk about “being present” a lot in mindfulness but it gets repeated so often that it loses meaning.

This stopping and taking an interest in what was happening in the water below was my real world example of “being present”.

No matter how much we complicate it (and we are GREAT at over complicating things), mindfulness really can be as simple as stopping and taking an interest in the world around us.

Below are some photos I’ve captured over the last few years.

There’s no real theme connecting them except for the fact that I remember taking them on days where I was either distracted by thoughts most of the day and had to keep bringing myself back to where I was or they were taken on days when I really didn’t feel like getting out and taking an interest in the world around me and needed to give myself a push to get out the door.

Looking back at my own footsteps on St Finan’s bay, Kerry

Raindrops on a leaf.

Typewriter in Camden Fort, Crosshaven.

Winter sunset catching a leaf.

Magnolia in early spring on the grounds of UCC.

A cormorant struggling with its breakfast on the River Lee.

A crescent moon behind the North Cathedral, Cork City.

Snowdrop hiding in a ditch.

Swans at the Lee Fields, Cork.

Clouds over Granada, Spain.

Next time you find yourself distracted by thoughts or scrolling on the phone take a moment to look around and take an interest in what’s around you.

You never know what you might see.

If you enjoyed these photos you can see more over on my Instagram page or my online store.