Whenever I learn about something, I tend to soak myself in it until I have absorbed as much as I can before moving on. With something like mindfulness, we could soak ourselves for the rest of our lives and still have room for growth. In this Sunday Round-Up we will look at some of the more unexpected resources for mindfulness I’ve found over the years.
Lone Wolf and Cub: Definitely not for everyone, this 26 book series is a crash course in focus, remaining unswayed, being present and on the relationship between mindfulness and how one lives (or dies). It has some of the best depictions of mindfulness in the midst of chaos that are out there, all while being the greatest revenge story of all time.
The Last Samurai: Yeah, yeah, I know, this film catches a lot of flak for casting Tom Cruise as the last samurai, even though that isn’t what it is actually about. This, of course, doesn’t measure up to great Kurosawa movies and no one will ever be better than Mifune, but it has wonderful moments that depict mindfulness and what being in the moment is. Worth watching, even if you are a movie snob. I really like this movie.
Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse: A book worth reading every year. It’s hard to say anything about a book this good.
Inside Out: This blew me away. A profound look at emotions, memories and what impact they have on us when we are not aware of what is going on.
The Matrix: Yes, these movies got worse as they went and they are distinctly 90’s by now, but the core idea holds: we don’t see realty as it is, but as the mind perceives it. I’m not sure mindfulness will help you see the giant robot octopi that need our body heat, but we may all be better off without that.
The Imperial Radch Trilogy by Ann Leckie: I don’t want to say too much about these books because they are relatively new and maybe someone wants to read them, but the idea of one’s consciousness being spread over multiple bodies gives us a lot to work with. A great series.
Vipassana by Macklemore: I’m not really a fan, but this song is incredible.
Amelie: The power of simple acts of kindness, and how what we do (and what we avoid) tells us more about ourselves than others.
Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter…and Spring: This whole movie is a meditation.
These are just a few ideas. Literally everything we read, hear, see and do can be an exercise in a mindful existence if we let it.
It’s a beautiful world, everything is calling us to be present.
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