Chapter 1
For myself, mindfulness is a way to fully enter into and experience life, to accept the reality of my situation without having it overwhelm me. I have more satisfaction in pleasurable experiences and more compassion and peace in the unpleasant ones.
Mindfulness practice has deepened my ability to connect with others and with myself. As I practice being present in the moment, engaging in curiosity rather than judgment, I experience greater ease, peace, and compassion. I attune to others and experience greater empathy and intimacy. The intolerable becomes tolerable. The pleasant becomes ecstatic. The familiar becomes intimate.
There is a lightness of being that allows intimacy with the darkest, most painful places. Suddenly, my well-being isn’t dependent on my situation, but rather on my willingness to caress and breathe life into these shadows. Freedom. The satisfaction comes from the freedom of not being shackled by the stories, but dancing through them, with them. Relief. I can discover and luxuriate in the textures of what is feared or unknown. Vitality. The joy of surprise when I open to the unknown. Spontaneity. Passion. Aliveness.
Mindfulness is the first step on this path of whole-hearted living.
