I kinda hate meditation. Well, to be more specific, I guess I hate seated meditation. It makes me super cranky for the rest of the day. And hot. And while that probably means I’m an EXTRA good candidate for it, I just can’t.

Enter, photography. I realized the other day, that photography is actually a sort of meditation. You must focus on what’s in front of you. You must pay attention! Like, real, intense attention to the here and now. Don’t look away! Don’t think about your to-do list. You might miss a moment! That sunset? Gone in 5 minutes. Those sweet, smiling, angelic children? Fighting again in 2 minutes flat.

“Everything looks different with a camera in your hand” – My cool uncle

And how true that is! There are beautiful things to capture all around, you just have to pay attention. Look at the geometry of that flower! The joy in your child’s face and their gorgeous lashes (jealous)!! The boats all lined up in the harbor! Literally stop and smell the roses.

With a camera in hand, you are truly HERE. NOW.

My challenge to you: The next time you are out and about, try and take 3 pictures of things that look interesting. That’s it. Going for a walk? Get that iPhone ready. Kids playing with legos? Snap snap snap. Once you set the intention, it’s really hard to stop noticing the beautiful and captivating scenes unfolding all around you.

Now think about what would happen if we set the intention in life to just notice the beauty. To LOOK for the beauty. You may start noticing things you didn’t notice before. Beautiful things. All around you.

This is technically meditation! Well, technically mindfulness, but a form of meditation. Think of it as calming your screeching, jumping monkey mind with less of a “full Nelson” and more of a “giving the monkey a puzzle and a snack” approach.

I’m going to give seated meditation another try. In the meantime I’m going to grab my camera and go for a walk.

Look at the world through the lens of documenting its intrigue. Breathe. Repeat.