Live with Inattention

Mind Less Monday

Live with Intention?

Maybe Not

A Case Against Being Mindful

I don’t want to be mindful all the time, or even most of the time. It’s a worthy endeavor, but my mind is full most days. If I give careful, that is, mindful, attention to everything, I foresee serious overload, resulting in my brain experiencing the infamous Microsoft Blue Screen or the Apple Mac spinning rainbow of doom.

To avoid such an experience, and contrary to all things Zen, I decided a few months ago to have Mind Less Mondays.

Mind Less. My Monday morning started with muddy gloves and dirt-crusted jeans. Record heat is on its way this late-October day, so I gardened early, not minding a bit that the ground was soaked from last night’s most-welcome rain.

Everything October has fest in these late fall days. Bok Tower Gardens in Lake Wales, Florida, held their annual Boktoberfest plant sale on Saturday. This Monday, I’m trying to mind less that I rent a giant gash in my budget and instead revel in delight at the treasures I found: a pink orchid cactus groaning with its load of buds, a long-lusted-for Papileo amaryllis bulb, and a pitcher plant to replace the one I killed a few months back.

Mindless Monday means I enter my office and get ready to work. Glancing at the clutter (and trying to mind it less), my eyes lit on the piano. Few inches of space are left on its top because it’s covered with photos. I mind less what might appear to be clutter because each of those photos holds the face of someone I love.

Cats might represent the pinnacle of the love-hate relationship. They are warm, they snuggle, they love fiercely. They also are cold as ice, distant, and dole out their affection in bite-sized pieces. Alas, they also barf. I’m minding less that the cat barfed on my car for a few reasons. The hose was handy, so I sprayed it away before the aforementioned record heat could bake it into the paint. Because my son just washed the car yesterday, when I hosed it off, it was still clean, so I wasn’t tempted to do a complete car wash.

Moonflowers are among my favorites, but they’re annuals. This summer’s vines had dried to a scraggle, so I cut them down yesterday. I mind less that they’re gone because hidden in these pods are seeds for more moonflowers to delight me. Like precious eggs in a nest, the white gems will produce next season’s beauties.

Gardening is rewarding, but oh, so, demanding. Because of time constraints, I can’t do everything I want to do. I’m minding less that this hoya desperately needs to be trimmed and repotted. Instead, I’m focusing on the waxy pink blossom at the end of the vine.

Mind Less Mondays are about attention and where I focus mine. This Mindless Monday, I am re-mind-ed that humor brings such joy to life! Last week, I wrote on the white board my decision to “Live with Intention.” I laughed aloud when I discovered my son’s edit: “Live with inattention.” On Mindless Monday, inattention is my watchword. Some things deserve attention; others merit inattention. On Mindless Monday, I make that choice.

Less attention is often a good thing. I mind less, much less, that the corpse cactus smells, well, like a corpse, because I don’t ever give it my close attention. Like Mindless Monday, I distance myself from it and other things that I must mind less, much less.