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

Mark Epstein

To move forward is to concoct new patterns of thought

© by Claudia L’Amoreaux

“To move forward is to concoct new patterns of thought, which in turn dictate the design of the models and experiments. Easy to say, difficult to achieve.”

—Edward O. Wilson, The Diversity of Life

As I step forward into 2021, I am turning to look back at the people and projects in 2020 that helped me concoct new patterns of thought. First and foremost is E.O. Wilson and all the people and partners involved in the Half-Earth project. If you have not, I encourage you to read the book, Half-Earth—Our Planet’s Fight for Life, to appreciate and understand the solutions the project proposes and the people working hard to implement the solutions. Please order it from your local book store.

I want to also acknowledge Greta Thunberg. Seeing her every Friday throughout the year holding her sign School Strike for Climate shows me what perseverance looks like. But especially, following her journey by sea this year, not once, but twice, first with Team Malizia and then with the crew of La Vagabonde as she journeyed to address COP25 in Madrid, showed me how dedication can manifest.

Daniel Dietrich is a wildlife photographer who leads children and families on photo expeditions in the Pt. Reyes National Seashore. He is founder of the organization Conservation Kids—connecting young adults to conservation through photography. One day, in the post-COVID times, I hope to join him on a Pt. Reyes photo safari. His photography and videos on Instagram have sustained me this year. Daniel has let me see badgers, bobcats, coyotes, and foxes in ways that have deepened my understanding of animals around me.

And especially, Mark Epstein has offered insights from his own life and practice of psychotherapy that have helped me “move forward.” I read every single one of his books in 2020 (thanks to one of my dearest mentors, Anne Marie Roeper, for getting me started several years ago with Thoughts Without a Thinker) and watched countless lectures he has given. I wrapped up the Epstein booklist this year with The Trauma of Everyday Life…and I will be rereading his books in 2021.

Obviously, I could go on with this for many paragraphs. But I hope by keeping it short, you will explore one or two of these links to find your own inspiration that might help you concoct new patterns of thought in your personal lives and your heroic work as parents, grandparents, caregivers, and educators.

A Low Point 2020—Summer Fires Bay Area. Photo by Claudia L’Amoreaux

EVENTS

The Dalai Lama with Greta Thunberg and Leading Scientists: A Conversation on the Crisis of Climate Feedback Loops, January 9, 2021, 7:30 pm Pacific. Free. View here.

Take good care. Keep your spirits up. Connect.

Going On Being

© by Claudia L’Amoreaux

When I founded Mindful Digital Life in 2015, we inhabited a very different world than we do today. I never imagined I would be searching for Zoom dance classes for my 2-year-old granddaughter, or Facetiming with her and Coyote Old Man and his friends Skinny Coyote (the photobomber) and Little Kitty almost daily for weeks stretching into months. In fact, we’ve Facetimed so much, these little figures have actually come alive. Who knew?

I took a very necessary sabbatical from writing for this blog from March until this week to give myself an opportunity to prioritize my life differently and to think deeply about the role of Mindful Digital Life in this new world—a world engaging SARS-CoV-2, a country facing (and all too frequently denying) decades of structural and systemic racism, an education system coping with an unprecedented health crisis, and life impacted by escalating global warming.

Many of you know that I live in Northern California. I never imagined anything could impact concerns about Covid-19 in the near term. The fires that started with a heat wave and unusual dry lightning in August have burned 2 million acres to date. As firefighters from all over the world have courageously worked to contain this round of hundreds of fires, new ones have started. While just a short time ago we were all consumed with checking Covid-19 statistics, overnight we turned our attention to monitoring containment of fires with 3-letter acronyms (CZU, LNU, SCU) and Lightning Complex in their names, along with constant checking of air quality and wind direction. I actually forgot about Covid-19 briefly.

Coyote Old Man, Skinny Coyote, and Little Kitty (again :D)

I am deeply grateful for my health, and the health of my family members. I have had the great luxury of sheltering in place. I have a profession that allows me to work from home and I have access to the technologies and the critical bandwidth that enable it. I have had access to Covid-19 tests when I needed them. I have access to services to deliver my groceries. I have high quality, comfortable masks to wear when I must venture out. I have shelter, with people who care about me. My health is the outcome of these many privileges my race has granted me. This has become extremely obvious.

Before my sabbatical, in a pre-Covid-19 world, I often declared one of my superpowers to be Curation. Despite all the other changes, curation remains my superpower today. Curation and supporting young people and their families in deepening emotional intelligence, interconnection, self-direction, and learning how to learn. I didn’t know if this would be the case when I started my sabbatical.

I didn’t stop curating during my sabbatical. That gift of mine appears to be unstoppable.

I didn’t stop supporting young people and their families during my sabbatical. That passion, too, appears to be unstoppable.

A few books I’ve read that are helping me during this challenging time:

Marc Brackett: Emotional Intelligence

Mark Epstein: Going on Being and Advice Not Given

Adam Phillips: Winnocott

Videos I’ve watched:

Marc Brackett: This is great. It’s a two-part workshop for educators that Marc gave on emotional intelligence at the Greater Good Science Center at the first annual Greater Good Summer Institute for Educators in 2013. The workshop is even more relevant today.

Part 1 (1 hour 19 mins) of the workshop

Part 2 (1 hour 3 mins) of the workshop

Two valuable resources on anti-racism:

Facing History and Ourselves: Reflecting on George Floyd’s Death and Police Violence Towards Black Americans

I have written about the organization Facing History and Ourselves here. Explore their workshops. Many of them are now online. Subscribe to their newsletter. Support them.

National Writing Project: Resources for Justice and Peace, by Elyse Eidman Aadahl

Elyse is the Executive Director of the NWP. If you don’t know about them, you should. They are awesome. They have a newsletter—to subscribe, scroll down the page to the bottom.

Upcoming Workshop with Claudia, October 5, 7:00 – 8:30 PM PT

Mindful Technology for Challenging Times, sponsored by Parents Place. Registration required. Fee.

Thank you for caring about what I have to say. Be well. Let me know how you are. I love hearing from you.

Heartfelt thanks to Sir Ken Robinson (1950–2020) for decades of dedication, service, and inspiration.