THA S? THE WELL

FILLING THE WELL TASK

I would like to ask you to find and do a task of delight. A task that allows you to be mindful but have lots of fun in the meantime.

In filling the well, think magic. Think delight. Think fun. Do not think duty. Do not do what you should do. Do what intrigues you, explore what interests you; think mystery, not mastery.

A mystery draws us in, leads us on, lures us. (A duty may numb us out, turn us off, tune us out.) In filling the well, follow your sense of the mysterious, not your sense of what you should know more about. A mystery can be very simple: if I drive this road, not my usual road, what will I see? Changing a known route throws us into the now. We become refocused on the visible, visual world.

Sight leads to insight.

Some sounds lull us. Others stimulate us. Ten minutes of listening to a great piece of music can be a very effective meditation. Five minutes of barefoot dancing to drum music can change your attitude for the whole day.

Filling the well needn’t be all novelty. Cooking can fill the well. When we chop and pare vegetables, we do so with our thoughts as well.

The brain is reached through rhythm, through rhyme, not reason. Scraping a carrot, peeling an apple -these actions are quite literally food for thought.

Learn which of these works best for you and use it.

Filling the Well is made of Mindful Acts. Whatever you chose to do, stay mindful and observant of your surrounding, your body, your emotions and your thoughts.

Source – The Artist’s Way – Julia Cameron