{"id":3334,"date":"2013-10-28T21:23:08","date_gmt":"2013-10-29T01:23:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/mindfulnessmatters\/?p=3334"},"modified":"2013-10-28T21:23:08","modified_gmt":"2013-10-29T01:23:08","slug":"have-we-lost-the-art-of-seeing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/2013\/10\/have-we-lost-the-art-of-seeing.html","title":{"rendered":"Have We Lost the Art of Seeing?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"chihuly_1\"<\/a>Yesterday was the last day for the Dale Chihuly exhibit at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. Chihuly makes grand scale blown glass sculptures in illuminated colors that can blow your mind.<\/p>\n

The museum was packed with people, like myself, who waited until the last day to see the exhibit.<\/p>\n

The galleries had no ambient light. The installations provided all the light. The piece you see on the left is about fifteen feet wide.<\/p>\n

The colors, forms, and textures were quite compelling. They could stop your mind, if you let them.<\/p>\n

As soon as I entered the dark, crowded spaces and beheld the first flourishes of glass and color, I reached for my phone to take a picture. I was not alone. iPhones and iPads were clicking away.<\/p>\n

What did this compulsion accomplish? What did it cost me? (and everyone else?)<\/p>\n

I wanted to have a visual record of this experience. In part, so I could share it with you, my readers. But there was also something more insidious happening. I wanted to hold on to the experience by capturing it with a photographic representation. This “cost” me the experience in the moment. It removed me from the raw power of the art.\u00a0\"chihuly_2\"<\/a><\/p>\n

After a while, I was seeing the art through the camera instead of my eyes. My mind was not blown or stopped yesterday. I was impressed without doubt. I was moved intellectually by the scope of the work, but I was not stirred emotionally. I was somewhere else, hanging on to the past, leaning into the future, and the mumblings in my head insulated me from a more direct experience of the present.<\/p>\n

It occurred to me that I could remove myself from the crowds and find a quiet spot to meditate and then re-engage. Time was running out, but I did this. The second viewing showed me more.<\/p>\n

The situation of an art show is different than the photographer looking through the view finder in search of subject matter. I just listened to a 2010 interview with the now late Lou Reed on Q<\/a>. Reed said that “the world looks better through the camera.” A high end camera can see things that the human eye cannot, but again this is a different context.<\/p>\n

The moments of our lives vary in terms of how open we are. We can push that through practice but not every moment is going to provide mind-blowing openness. I think the way we approach the present with camera-in-hand makes it more remote. Had I walked through the first time without the camera and all the anxiety the camera brings (the desire to get the right image and to share it with everyone), I think I would have enjoyed it more.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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Dr. Kozak's ability to translate ancient healing traditions into pragmatic applications suitable for modern lifestyles through the use of metaphors have made him a strong voice in healthcare and business. Beginning with a journey to India in the 80\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s where he took the Bodhisattva vows from His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Arnie Dr. Kozak began his lifelong practice in mindfulness meditation. Intent on finding a way to bring the practical healing attributes of mindfulness he began incorporating these techniques in his private practice. In 2002 Dr. Kozak created Exquisite Mind in Burlington, Vermont as a vehicle that could expand his wisdom to larger audiences beyond individual psychotherapy to professionals and corporations, health care providers, public groups and, most recently with Exquisite Mind Golf, amateur and professional golfers. His award-winning new book, Wild Chickens and Petty Tyrants: 108 Metaphors for Mindfulness (Wisdom Publications, 2009) is a thoughtful, funny, and inspiring translation of mindfulness practice through the inventive use of metaphor applicable to our daily lives. In addition to his work with Exquisite Mind, Arnie Kozak, Ph.D., Licensed Psychologist\u00e2\u20ac\u201dDoctorate has been a Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Vermont and is a Clinical Instructor in Psychiatry and Medicine, University of Vermont College of Medicine. He has studied and practiced clinical psychology, meditation, and yoga for more than 25 years. He has studied with several meditation masters, including S. N. Goenka, Larry Rosenberg, Gurumayi Chidvilasananda, and His Holiness the Dalai Lama. After receiving his bachelors degree with honors from Tufts University, he was awarded a Presidential Fellowship to get his Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University at Buffalo. He completed his training as a Psychological Fellow at the Harvard Medical School. Prior to founding the Exquisite Mind in 2002, Arnie worked ten years in the private sector for the PKC Corporation consulting on mental health content for this revolutionary software company.","sameAs":["http:\/\/exquisitemind.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/author\/akozak"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3334","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/268"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3334"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3334\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3341,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3334\/revisions\/3341"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3334"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3334"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3334"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}