Activities: Mindfulness

 

Feelings: Present in the earth

 

Thoughts: My task for the day was to be mindful of myself as I went through my daily business. The point of mindfulness is to eliminate the feeling of missing out on life because you’re aware of yourself being alive as you’re being alive. It really equates to just noticing things and enjoying them. Usually I don’t notice I’m alive until something very strange or unexpected happens, like missing the last stair or getting dacked at a party. Luckily I had a particularly bizarre day to notice.

 

I was being a simulated patient in a training hospital where my job was to spook the pants off trainee doctors by growling at them while they operated on me. It’s a fun job and, you know, fulfilling because I get to shout but also help a generation of surgeons become more empathetic. It’s a fun but slow day, I have to lie in the hospital bed and do my best hulk impression, then lunch.

 

I was frequently left alone while my nurse friend went to console the shattered trainees and instead of my usual grumbling I mindfulnessed myself into enjoying my surroundings. The hospital bed was cosy and warm, the clouds rolled lazily by my window, my fake open wound clung snugly to my arm. I thought of how lucky I was to have such a bizarre job and how tasty the calamari salad they gave us for lunch was, I thought of how the procession of shell-shocked surgeons proved how good I was at my job.

 

Consciously enjoying things made me grateful for them. This put good thoughts in my head and made me feel good. Yes, I was annoyed that I’d had to pay $32 for parking in the city, but I also felt glad to be alive to pay for anything at all. Plus, I didn’t feel the need to check my phone every twenty seconds to make sure nothing interesting was happening elsewhere that I was missing out on, I was glad to be where I was, making doctors sad. Later in the day I went to a play and mindfully enjoyed standing outside waiting for it to start. I watched every single other person as they jabbed violently at their phones, all anxious that they weren’t doing enough, none comfy just standing and waiting. It was funny looking at how badly we want to encompass the whole of existence in our heads at the same time, while not wanting to take a moment just to stand.

 

Here’s me in the hospital. It’s a barrel of fun!