“During my last holiday in Quebec, I went climbing with my son Matias. The rock was next to a magnificent waterfall. Hanging by my rope, I wanted at all costs to take several pictures of him. I was adamant about providing Matias with a tangible memory of the moment. It did not take long before he got really annoyed with having me behind his back like a paparazzi. He turned around towards me and I never forgot what he told me then. ‘Dad when are you going to put away that camera of yours and admire the landscape around you? Look how beautiful! Enjoy it!’ Of course, he was spot on. My thirteen-year-old son called me back to the obvious: hanging by my rope, I was surrounded by the splendours of nature. And the only thing that mattered to me was to capture in pictures for later the spectacle that I was missing out on in the present moment. Mindfulness is just about that: living the present moment, here and now. Becoming aware of oneself, of what surrounds us, of the lived moment and the unique quality of happiness each brings. Unfortunately, we often mix up states of mind and thought.”
From “The no-nonsense meditation book” Bloomsbury Press – Green Tree 2021
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