Mindfulness is a complicated idea to wrap your head around, at least nowadays. Mindfulness in 2020 looks much different than mindfulness did just a few years ago. This year has been crazy for so many people. The overstimulation of something new each day in the news is distracting us from what we can do in our everyday lives. It has been hard to stop and think, observe, and listen. Many have sought after mindfulness this year throughout the year’s events, through the pandemic, social justice, and the election. Each of these events were necessary for each person to attain their own mindfulness and respond accordingly. I don’t blame them, it’s hard to stop and think. One may not control themselves if they don’t know what they are feeling. The idea that the world places within each of us growing up is that actions speak louder than words, and to react first. With this mindset we are determined to show our own thoughts and feelings before we reflect on our own thoughts and determine if they are right or not. From mask debates, to riots, to lying about an election it is easy to see people don’t reflect often. The people of the world seem to get hurt and retaliate before they even know what they are doing. I know firsthand that I have done this before too. This week’s lesson on mindfulness reminded me to reflect on my actions and thoughts before reacting to each of them. I was able to have a quiet time each night in my room and reflect on what happened during each day, acknowledge each thought, and reflect on each action. This has helped me to calm myself and remind myself that this isn’t the best or worst it’s going to get. There will be hard times in life and there will be great times, but for each of those we must get through them and recognize that we can control our own future by calming ourselves and thinking before we do.

This class has helped me reflect on my ow design process as well. Why am I pursuing sustainability? how do I integrate it more? How can I let others know that sustainability is a must for the world? Though my refection time I has also inquired myself about each of these topics. My response to each is still undecided as I continue to develop my thoughts and ideas for each. The class community has encouraged me to be more thoughtful about each topic and dig deeper into each thought. A simple idea can become a huge idea once reflected upon and fleshed out to its full character. All of these thoughts and the rest of this year crashing down upon me could easily cause stress and an overwhelmed feeling, but with a time of mindfulness and reflection I can calm myself down to understand each situation and learn how to handle them. Learn from your own actions and thoughts, reflect upon each to create new ideas and thoughts that will benefit you in the future. We learn from ourselves and become better people from it.