A Field Guide to Now Notes on Mindfulness and Life in the Present Tense

by Rosalie, Christina

• ISBN13: 9780762778560
• ISBN10: 0762778563
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2012-09-04
• Publisher: skirt!

Summary

What if you could look for the present moment in a field guide, the way you might look up the name of a tree out your window? For as long as you can remember, the tree has just been a tree, but in looking it up, it becomes something more: a Sassafras maybe, or a Tulip Maple, and suddenly you can feel the way your attention towards it shifts. You recognize the way its pollen gathers fine and yellow in the weft of your bedroom screen in May, or the way its shade freckles the dying grass at the end of summer. In the act of naming it, in discovering its traits and marks, the tree becomes something more to you. What if you could do this for the moments that fill your life?That is what this book is about. The illustrated essays and prose explore the fabric of the present tense. With this book, talented blogger and artist Christina Rosalie combines narrative with original illustrations and field notes that spark inspiration. Within these pages she leads readers to rediscover how the small, mundane aspects of daily life canthrough a shift in focusbecome a springboard for the profound.

Author Biography

Christina Rosalie is a writer, mixed media artist, and creative consultant whose award winning work and been featured in print and online. Her blog, My Topography, a Best of Blogs “Best Creative Blog” winner, has a loyal and expanding audience. She lives with her family in Vermont. Visit her at mytopography.com.

Table of Contents

Introduction	p. vi
At the Outset: Action	p. x
In the Dark Approach	p. 6
Waking Up: Attention	p. 14
In Between: Becoming	p. 20
Close Like This: Bravery	p. 30
Departure and Arrival: Conception	p. 40
Nothing Lasts: Depth	p. 48
Fight or Flight: Dialogue	p. 54
In the Thick of Things: Discovery	p. 62
Growing Pains: Fervor	p. 70
Moving to Be Still: Habit	p. 80
The Moment at Hand: Hunger	p. 86
Lines and Sparks: Hurdle	p. 94
Give-and-Take: Intersection	p. 104
Off Track: Journey	p. 112
At Home in the Moment: Listing	p. 120
For the Time Being: Measure	p. 130
Certain Uncertainty: Opportunity	p. 142
Evidence: Prayer	p. 150
Encountering Possibility: Prototype	p. 156
Deciding: Timing	p. 166
Taking Flight: Tyro	p. 172
Acknowledgments	p. 180
About the Author	p. 181
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