Maha – your post has stuck with me over the past couple of days. I’ve been recently thinking about “mindfulness” as a way to deal with the stress and mental clutter that seem inevitable in our busy lives (though I dislike the term and the spiritual associations that often seem to go with it… perhaps “presentness” better describes what I’m working on.)

Your comments about your daughter particularly resonated. I recall reading something when I was pregnant about how the average parent spends only 7 minutes a day interacting with their young child. I thought that was ridiculous, and clearly I would do better. And now, with a 3 year old, I can see where that number comes from – much of the time I’m interacting with my son I’m also on the computer, doing housework, or trying to get him dressed/washed/fed/etc. When I do focus on him I feel like I’m neglecting something else that “needs” to be done, or I’m frustrated because I’d rather be using my spare time to pursue my own interests (sadly crawling around the floor playing with plastic superheroes isn’t high on my list of life passions). Often, instead of being mindful, I simply feel guilty over the list of ‘shoulds’ I continually carry around with me.

What I’m trying to do is take moments to really be present in each activity I do, and to really focus on one aspect of value: when I play with my son I focus on the sound of his laugh, or the imaginative way he voices each of the characters he’s playing with; I notice how the colours of the trees change from day to day as I walk the dog; I pick out only on one or two of the items that pour through my Feedly each day to really think about and engage with. I’ve not got it figured out yet, and it doesn’t always work. I don’t think our society allows for or permits a great deal of mindfulness, but for our sanity we maybe need to each find a way to separate the sound from the noise.