PRESENCE IN CHAOS - 365 MINDFUL MOMENTS is a collection of thought-provoking quotes, illustrated with the author's original photography - the product of her search for mindfulness through creativity. This book is laid out in a quote-a-day format, intended to inspire taking a little time each day to be present "in the moment," and building resilience for the random chaos that can come with our day-to-day lives.
Being effective each day requires focus and presence to give our best to the people with whom we work and those we love; but the tempo of daily life can drive us to multi-task frenetically to keep our commitments at work and at home. The 21st-century information-overload only heightens the stress of focusing on the essential. We defer the things that renew and sustain us-family time, unplugging, caring for our well-being.
For Debbie Hennelly, like so many in middle-age reflection, life feels like a blur since her 20s-juggling all the commitments in her work and in raising a family-sometimes chaotic, sometimes just plain exhausting. Some of it was self-imposed; some of it came with the territory of working in law firms and corporate-land, surrounded by high-achievers and soccer-moms. Debbie realized she needed a major reset to overcome the physical and mental drain of serious burnout . "Put on your own oxygen mask before assisting the person next to you," right? She needed to get centered. And that's how this book was born.
The growth of formal and informal mindfulness practices indicates the increasing value in building the physical, mental and emotional resilience we need. There isn't one "right way" to practice mindfulness, so there is plenty of room to improvise. Debbie began by spending the first 30 minutes of every morning finding ways to just be "in the moment." Present. No email, no news, just quiet reflection. She was hopelessly bad at quieting the running to-do list in her mind for more than 10 minutes, though; so, she opted to add a "Plan B" approach: getting creative.
She started sharing with friends-just one inspiring quote each day, using her photography to reflect something in each quote. These became her daily social media posts for a few years, now with a following of thousands who often have then shared their own reflections. PRESENCE IN CHAOS - 365 MINDFUL MOMENTS is a year's-worth of her favorite posts, shared as inspiration for others to find their "mindful moments."
Be present with yourself, those you love and those you serve. Time is a finite resource, so it's a very precious gift.
