Tourist: changing our perspective to initiate a beginners mind

Traveling is fun: exploring new places, eating different foods, enjoying new scenery, and meeting new people. It is exciting and invigorating to go traveling. It offers a fresh new start and perspective.

This opens our minds and hearts to new worlds and fresh ways of thinking and being. We come home more relaxed and open to our surroundings, enjoying our spaces differently.

What if we could be tourists here and now without having to leave and go on a physical trip? It is possible. The great news is that we do not need to leave home to be tourists. Imagine being tourists in our own daily lives.

Since the mind becomes bored with the perceived mundane repetition of our regular daily experiences, just as a child becomes bored with a toy, we can play a fun game and pretend we are tourists in our own daily experiences.

Just waking up in the morning, thinking what a wonderful day it is, I am on holiday! In our regular daily routine, maybe we can just do things a bit differently, such as drinking our morning brew with the opposite hand, driving to work on a different route, or ordering a new menu item for lunch.

A fun option is to notice something different about our surroundings that we haven’t noticed before, such as the flowers in our neighbor's garden, how fluffy the clouds are, or the leaves on the trees blowing in the wind.

Add in some mindfulness practice and observational nature meditation with a stroll in the park, a bike ride at dusk, or walking the dog on a different path. These little twists expand our awareness, instill a beginner's mind, and open us up to new experiences.

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As the Zen Master Shunryu Suzuki reminds us:

"Before the rain stops we can hear a bird. Even under the heavy snow, we see snow drops, and some new growth." 

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When we get that stuck feeling of doing the same thing day in and day out, we limit our ability to expand our awareness and raise our frequencies to move into higher spaces of consciousness.

There is so much elevation potential within us when we nudge ourselves out of the boxes we have created within our minds. Then new experiences arise, fresh air is felt, and creativity and imagination are able to soar.

Since our thinking mind loves security and repetition, just becoming a tourist and changing our perspective ignites a little spark, which creates a positive change in our hard wiring, creating a beginner's mind.

This is fun and exciting; every moment is a new experience. Why not go on holiday every day and become the tourist of our life that our destiny designed us to be?

Cheers!

Kether

Spunky Mind

"Walk as if you are kissing

the earth with your feet"

Thick Nhat Hanh