Mindfulness Book Club XVIII: On Looking 6:30 PM

There are 2 sections of the Book Club: noon & 6:30 PM, Mondays from Sept. 8 to Nov.10, with 2 separate Zoom links. These will NOT be published on this page. You must provide your personal e-mail to receive the links. Upon sending your e-mail, you will receive both links, & may use both.
Alexandra Horowitz has experience in trying to see from the standpoint & interests of others. Her Inside of a Dog was a #1 NYT bestseller & remained on their nonfiction list for over 50 weeks. In this case she attempts to renew her perceptions of her well known NYC environment as what Thich Nhat Hanh would call “flower fresh” with new awareness of aspects of the urban milieu to which she has never paid attention. The word mindfulness occurs only once in the introduction, but that is exactly what she is talking about. She is trying, in fact, for Zen Beginners’ Mind. Her effort was inspired by her young son & his fascination with what she rushes by. She offers information throughout on the human brain & its limitations in selecting objects of attention & even in understanding data collected by the senses. She tries to awaken awareness by walking the urban environment with a series of experts who are trained to see different cues. For instance, she walks with an “urban wildlife” expert who deals with rats & squirrels & their living spaces, an orthopedist who studies gait in humans individually & in spontaneous coordination to avoid collisions, and an artist attuned to communication of mood in color, typeface, & architecture.

We will observe Mindful Speech in discussions, not interrupting or using dismissive speech, nor occupying all the time.