Mindful as compared to Mindless
The Fringe Dweller's Guide to the Universe
The 12 Dichotomies
1. Mindful as compared to Mindless
So, last week ended a 4-part series taken from a book I'm working on, which will include a greatly expanded Bodywork section as well as a look at mental, emotional and sexual well being. I indicated last week that we'd look at some alternatives to living life in a "caught" fashion. Last night, the methodology occurred to me.
For the next 12 weeks, then, we’ll look at the following pairings, or dichotomies:
The 12 Dichotomies
1. Mindful as compared to mindless
2. Responsible as compared to blaming
3. Flexible as compared to blocked
4. Self-actualized as compared to self-absorbed
5. Honest as compared to indirect
6. Truthful as compared to devious
7. Self-centred as compared to selfish
8. Masterful as compared to knowledgeable
9. Present as compared to absent
10. Responsive as compared to reactive
11. Focussed as compared to scattered
12. Passionate as compared to charged
Mindful as compared to Mindless
I'm going to use these terms in a slightly different way than Taoists or Buddhists use them. I am using"being alert to the workings of both the world and the mind" to define mindfulness and"operating on inattentive auto-pilot" to define mindlessness.
In Eastern thought, mindfulness is a meditative state where the person attempts to simply allow thoughts to pass by. In contrast, the above definition indicates that we are interested in understanding the interplay between what the mind thinks and what is actually happening. The greater the correlation between the two, the more mindfulness is present. On the other hand having the mind go one way and "life" another is classic mindlessness.
A couple of examples: (somewhat lame, but hey…)
I was on a tear yesterday, trying to get too much done in too little time. I made a bank deposit, then decided to withdraw 20 bucks from the bank machine. I use the machine so much that I don't even have to look at it, let alone pay attention. I punched in 20 bucks, removed my card when told to, took my receipt when directed, and turned and walked out of the bank. (This would fit my normal pattern – I seldom have much cash on me). Later (much later…), at a restaurant, I briefly wonderer where my 20 was. I hope someone who needed it was next in line. Classic mindlessness.
Notice, however, that I was not "zoned out." I ran the bank machine flawlessly, right up until the last item. Between the point of entering the 20 (I had a thought that I'd like the machine to give me one, obviously) to turning on my heel and leaving - somewhere in there, I went mindless. Which matches the pattern for most of us.
Few of us are totally incompetent, zoned out, completely lost in the fog. Most of us are functional. However, and it's a big however, most of what we are doing is not actually conscious. It's like driving to work, getting there and not knowing how. Functional, but not mindful.
Example 2, which is a "combo":
I was driving up to my office in Port Elgin, and decided to stop at Timmie’s. (Canadian reference, for a Tim Horton donut shop – of which there is one, or one like it, on every corner of every intersection in Canada – we do love our donuts.) I was listening to an audio book, pulled into the lot, parked, got out, said hi to the nice lady I passed, and made it the 50 feet to the door of the shop, when I heard, "Hey mister. Your truck's moving!!!"
I quickly registered that she might be talking to me, as I, indeed, drive a truck. I whipped around, and there was my truck, heading backwards through the parking lot. Standard transmission, and a flash that I must not have left it in gear. OK. There's the mindless part. Now, the mindful piece.
I took off running across the lot, covering the 60 feet pretty quickly for a 50-year-old. As I ran, (much like when you are falling – there's a certain slowness to time, and clarity) I thought about what I was going to do next. I eliminated running behind the truck and trying to stop it – dopes get run over that way. Couldn'’t grab the front bumper and stop it – it weighs more than me. That left getting in and applying the brake.
Now, I come from Buffalo, via Chicago, so even after 25 years in Canada, I lock everything. So, as I ran, not missing a step, I extricated my keys from my pocket, picked the right one, and caught the truck. I ran alongside, shoved the key in the lock in one try, turned the lock, pocketed the key and opened the door. I then sped up my running, pivoted and vaulted into the seat, not whacking any portion of my anatomy. I applied the brake. The truck had traveled about 50 feet back.
I drove it back to the parking place, left it in gear and turned it off. The lady was still standing where I'd passed her, on my 100-foot dash. She applauded.
Me too.
There was a serene sense of focus in my mindful dash, where every step simply flowed out of the one before. I was so focussed on the task at hand that the result was almost pre-ordained.
Mindfulness is simply about paying attention, in two directions at once. The first direction is inward. I needed to access info on how fast the truck was rolling, how to stop it, and what to do, in what order. If I had gone into judgement – into whether I could do it, or blame -- how could I have been so stupid -- I'd have been lost. It was essential to get on with the task at hand without a pile of self-doubt creeping in.
Secondly, I needed to really open my eyes and see. I had to see the pavement, the truck, my keys, the lock, the door handle and the seat. Everything else was irrelevant. I remember being unaware of other cars, traffic, or the (likely) bemused look on the lady's face. Mindfulness allows us to focus in on the task at hand, flexibly.
This week's lesson is around mindfulness – paying attention to what is happening. In balance – internal and external. No zoning out, no luxuriating in self-doubt or self-recrimination. Simply focussing in, and doing the necessary. Staying with the task at hand until the 20 is also in your hand, so to speak.
That kind of focussed attention is rare these days. Yet, the vast majority of the difficulties we find ourselves in are a direct result of mindlessness.
Think about it. Then, wake up!
The Phoenix Business Focus--Debashis Dutta
THE POLITICAL AND THE PERSONAL AT WORK –
THE MIDDLE "P"
Review
This will be the fourth and final piece in the series "The Personal and the Political at Work." Let’s review a little.
The first article focussed on keeping the political and the personal separate at work. Ten suggestions were offered as a vehicle to mediate this separateness:
Avoid nasty situations
Listen to others
Be honest about your intentions
Do not talk negatively of others
Respect the dignity and humanity of others
Do not take things personally
Be passionate
No one is out to get you
Take responsibility
Keep things in perspective
The second article was written out of a conundrum of sorts. I realized that in implementing the ten steps above, one could take them to extremes and become quite isolated from the self in the process of separating the personal and the political at work. So, to ensure that this doesn’t happen, we looked at one of Wayne’s screensavers – "Plunge ahead slowly." In other words, be political but not too political by being very aware of how your work impacts you and how you impact your work.
Article number three looked at how the feminist adage "the personal is the political" could be applied at work. It found that the political was informed by the personal and through this, unions and management would engage in "a personal problem-solving process within an adversarial political environment." We explored political power vs. personal power and found that collective activities in the workplace would increase the cumulative power of workers - which would, in turn, increase the political power of the union (to ensure that worker rights were maintained by management.) However, in all this, there was a risk of the loss of personal power. Although the political is critical in the workplace, a suggestion was made: decrease the political by being more aware of the personal.
Missing pieces
In all this political / personal separateness / but-not-too-separate at work, I feel like there is something missing. I spent a lot of time thinking and writing about being aware, being cautious, maintaining a balance between personal and political power. In all this, the two extremes continue to unfold.
On the one hand, the person gets lost in the political landscape of the workplace. When you’re dealing with politics all the time, trying to make place for yourself at work, you try to not get involved in a lot of things, and yet, to remain political, you end up getting dragged into something. In all this meandering, the personal becomes lost.
On the other hand, the reverse applies: the political can get lost if we are too personal. Imagine, if everyone did "the personal" at work: well, actually, in utopia, that would be cool. There would be honesty, openness, intimacy, closeness, productiveness, etc. BUT LET’S GET REAL!!!! Most workplace environments do not work that way at all. In most workplaces, if we are too personal, the political is lost and little tangible work gets accomplished. Take, for instance, any conflict-of-interest situation or dual-relationship problem. These situations are identified when the personal gets in the way of the political. In other words, someone’s own personal interest gets in the way of getting the work done.
So, where is the balance? Where is the balance between the political and the personal in the workplace? How do you ensure that you don’t lose your personhood in your work? How do you ensure that your "personal" doesn’t get in the way of getting the job done?
