Your Corner of the Cosmos

Photo by Nasim Keshmiri on Unsplash

In my little corner of the world, Covid still rages on.

(I happen to live in a college town where the return of students, as expected, caused the infection spread to increase.)

We aren’t alone in this upward trend, and many of us are still learning how to just exist with our fears, apathy, exhaustion, and anger.

But (thankfully) many scientists, designers, health-care professionals, and those in countless other professions are already using the success and failures of dealing with Covid-19 to inform decision-making for the future.

We HAVE to live and learn if we are going to continue to have the privilege to live and learn.

A recent NPR article (that inspired this blog post) addressed “redesigning the office for the next 100-year flu”. (If you scoff, put aside your disbelief. Covid has proven to all of us that these things aren’t a thing of the past, but of our present and our future as well.) According to the article,

Each expert we spoke to for this story told us that a key strategy for promoting health in office buildings is to provide opportunities for employees to come in contact with the natural world. This type of "biophilic design" can boost productivity and physical health. 

Such suggestions for interior design are not new. They certainly take on more importance when we are considering them in terms of life and death (i.e. stopping the spread of a harmful virus).

But why only pay attention when our survival is on the line? For those of us lucky enough to be alive, with food on our plates, water coming from our faucets, and a roof over our heads, why don’t we take the time to consider what will help us thrive?

Paying attention to our well-being (not just our survival) allows us to be stronger and more empowered to create the world in which we want to be living. (And honestly, when it comes down to it, being well allows us to create a sustainable world in which we can be living. If we are too ill to care for ourselves or to unaware to take responsibility for our actions, we lose our ability to care for others. The entire system begins to collapse.)

This entire journey of Being Breath is designed to help us find our well-being so that we may find the empowerment and awareness to help co-create the world in which we want to be living. (You’ll notice that phrase popping up a lot here.)

Look around you. What influence is this environment having on your well-being?

Do you feel relaxed and at ease? Do you feel inspired or tired? Is your mind (even subconsciously) pulled towards the clutter and to-do’s? Do you feel the spaciousness in which you can breathe with ease, or do you feel constricted? Do the colors overwhelm, bore, or energize you?

As you become aware of all of this, take a breath. It’s easy to become overwhelmed, considering all there is to do and think about these days.

As the wise Thich Nhat Hanh says,

“Don’t worry if you feel you can only do one tiny good thing in one small corner of the cosmos. Just be a Buddha body in that one place.”

Today, why not make your one small corner of the cosmos a bit more beautiful of a place to be.

Find a way to enhance the biophilic design - i.e. bringing in a bit more of the natural world. Or perhaps put away or donate something that’s been distracting you. Add a splash of color or a bit of comfort by draping over a chair a well-loved blanket that’s been hiding in your closet. Light a scented soy candle or disperse some essential oils, open the windows to hear the birds, or turn on some music that soothes your soul (or energizes you if you are feeling lethargic). Wipe down the surface on which you are working so it “sparkles” underneath your computer. (Bonus for the bold: Add actual sparkle.)

Be creative.

After all, this is the space from which the rest of your creative actions emerge.

Breathe in and begin.