Mindfulness is awareness that arises through paying attention,

on purpose,

in the present moment,

non-judgmentally.

 

—Jon Kabat-Zinn

Claudia L’Amoreaux

Mindful Digital Life

Antonio Machado

A-Maying

© by Claudia L’Amoreaux

I think it’s safe to say that all of us have worked hard to find our way through this past year of many hard challenges. Some of us will have lost people close and dear to us. All of us have witnessed an ongoing tremendous loss of life. Each of us in our own way has been touched, profoundly changed, and moved. I find myself once again circling back to the words of poet Antonio Machado.

Caminante, no hay camino,

se hace camino al andar.

Al andar se hace el camino,

y al volver la vista atrás

se ve la senda que nunca

se ha de volver a pisar.

Caminante no hay camino

sino estelas en la mar.

Wayfarer, there is no way.

A path is made by walking it.

By being walked, it becomes a path.

By looking back, you become aware

of all that you will never walk again.

Wayfarer, there is no way;

Only wake-trails on the sea.

Lately I’ve made time to just sit for a few moments in a chair under a small magnolia tree in full green leafiness in my yard. I took this photo a few days ago looking up into the canopy. I give thanks for this lovely spot of earth that has welcomed my granddaughter with open arms, and sustained me through winter to spring.

…in order for us to create something, we need to start creating…

© by Claudia L’Amoreaux

Traveler, there is no path.

The path is made by walking.

—Antonio Machado, from Border of a Dream: Selected Poems, XXIX

I concluded my first Mindful Digital Life blog post on December 26, 2016 with the quote above from a poem by Antonio Machado. It’s hard for me to believe that I started writing the Mindful Digital Life blog in 2016. The word “blog” sounds strange—almost archaic—as I hear the word in my mind today. These posts feel more like a series of letters. As we approach a year from the first pandemic “lockdown” in California, our lives have profoundly changed. I am working on a few posts but find I need more deep reflective time to consider and write what I am trying to express. In the meantime, I will focus simply on sharing some links that might support you.

High altitude dirt path with snow-capped mountains in background

I am convinced that in order for us to create something, we need to start creating. We cannot wait to create tomorrow, but we have to start creating. I am sure that in trying to create something inside of history we have to begin to have some dreams.

—Paolo Freire, We Make the Road by Walking

From the Mindful Digital Life archives

Is that me talking to myself? A post about reflective practice, December 1, 2017

From the Library

We Make the Road by Walking—Conversations on Education and Social Change. Miles Horton and Paulo Freire. Edited by Brenda Bell, John Gaventa, and John Peters. A record of an extraordinary conversation.

The Most Extraordinary Photo I Saw in the Last Week

Portrait of a tiger by nature and wildlife photographer Thomas Vijayan