When I think of Miami the first words that come to mind are: fun, breathtaking sunsets, the keys, sun bathing, yoga on the beach, jogging along the bay. The Miami experience.
To my surprise, what I witnessed was a city whose residents were over-powered by and stuck in anger, isolation, distrust, and selfishness. All anxiety-fueled behaviors. I found Miamians driven by mainstream consumerist-thinking more than other major cities in the US.
Here are my tips on how to implement mindfulness for each of the characters I encountered during my Miami exploration:
Road rage drivers on the highways and regular roads.
From interactions with locals, I gathered an ongoing sense of urgency and heightened anxiety, a lack of life-work balance, and very weak human connections.
I had landed in Miami International Airport (MIA) as a good snowbird, and I proceeded to get a rideshare. Out of nowhere on a quiet street in downtown Miami, I got thrown in a scene of The Fast and the Furious. A number of drivers drove around us as they screamed, made obscene hand gestures without cause. A heightened sense of urgency that translated into road rage.
Miami drivers: As you are on the wheel and feel pressure on any particular part of your body, (1) take a deep breath and ask yourself in the second person: are you clearing your path by shouting and making obscene hand gestures to others on the road? (2) Next, give yourself the opportunity to assess and identify hazards on the road ahead. You will have practiced patience for other drivers and provided some space for clarity in your head. As a result you will have increased your chances of reaching your final destination safely (not to mention keep your blood pressure down) while keeping others free of stressors on the road.
I like to experience cities as one of its locals. I walked into all the little shops and explored the spots where not a tourist soul was present.
I stroke conversations with workers and inquired about what spots to visit.
In one of my outings exploring the downtown neighborhood, I realized this was the first city I had visited where workers did not know their job’s neighborhood. After a few mindful attempts on getting some insight on local gems to visit - I kept getting different versions of the same answer: I work here I don’t live in this neighborhood.
It is much easier to practice kindness and to think in a social context when walking away from thoughts of “always being busy,” “not having time.” It will free you from your self-imposed constraint to explore, enjoy the spaces you have ready access to, and assess how you can become an agent of positive change in your surroundings.
Understanding that we all have different needs, and responsibilities in our personal lives is important. It is imperative to point out that increasing interest in practicing generosity with your day-to-day by taking baby-steps (i.e. checking out the neighborhood where you work) will open Your eyes to needs of underserved communities, spaces of cultural importance and of historic preservation value.
Hard-working Miamians: Being a commuter is no reason not to be aware of your surroundings. I invite you to help yourself make time to explore the neighborhood(s) you work in. Ask yourself in the second person: what are you keeping yourself from seeing, experiencing in the neighborhood where you spend most of your day EXCLUSIVELY working away? You might surprise yourself with the answer.
In the number of conversations with locals, one theme became apparent - weak human bonds. When asked about interactions or lack thereof with neighbors, friends, and strangers, individuals conveyed: (1) always being busy with work, (2) a verbal discourse that showed symptoms of being stuck in thinking that individuals approaching them would want “something” from them (that “something” was never defined), (3) lack of interest in fostering human connections that did not lead them to some form of material gain.
A study by Stanford University (2016) found that a few minutes of loving-kindness h toward strangers, suggesting, “that this easily implemented technique may help to increase positive social emotions and decrease social isolation.”
Shocked about the number of homeless individuals in Miami as I perused around its streets. I witnessed unforgiving heat, sometimes discombobulated. I, for instance during my visit, bought a case of water bottles and distributed them while mindfully exploring the historically and culturally rich streets of Miami. I also volunteered at the Miami Rescue Mission that helps community members in different capacities. If I can do it while I’m not from there, I invite you to practice kindness and compassion. Feeling socially connected has been proven to grant mental and physical health benefits. We are stronger together.
Yes, we do live in a society highly affected by consumerist thinking and an unhealthy fixation with accumulation of wealth.
Some might have even been taught from an early age to believe that the only way to reach self-fulfillment and happiness (coined as success) is by working oneself to the bone and being able to afford expensive material goods. Wrong. We only know when we arrived to this celebration we call life. We do not know when our time is up. Use the unknown length of time you have got here acknowledging every little moment of contentment by practicing kindness, patience and compassion and success could truly be met. We all are in this to-ge-ther.
Miamians that may be stuck in thoughts leading them to growing distrust and alienation: I invite you to practice an act of kindness everyday with another person (without making it known to them). (1) One day with a friend who you might not have seen in awhile - surprise them with a loving-kind text message or even better a phone call! (2) Knock on a neighbor’s door on your floor you haven’t met properly (that you probably continuously cross paths with on the hallway (and look away not knowing what to say or praying they don’t speak to you). Introduce yourself, and extend a friendly invitation to grab a drink sometime (does not need to alcoholic) Building community within community is key. (3) I invite you to buy a meal, a bottle of a sports drink (for its electrolyte content) and/or water for a homeless person on your walk to work, lunch or home to prevent heat poisoning. Search for opportunities online to volunteer. If I can do it when I’m not from there, you can make a greater more consistent positive impact in your city as a whole.
There is a silver lightning to my observation to our South Floridian American city in its journey to fulfilling the balance that makes cities like New York, San Francisco and Washington, DC ideal sanctuaries for diversity, inclusiveness, and increasingly nowadays - cradles of mindful practices.
During the last leg of my stay I met a young woman. She was a foreign national that I met through my conversations in cafes. From the moment we started chatting, she tapped into her inner sensibility, kindness, and compassion. Her journey was captivating. She had hit the ground running in Miami. She had gotten a job after receiving her work-permit and was waiting for her Social Security card. She understood and had been exposed to consumerist-infused practices and expectations from joining her new community here in the US. Her struggles in entering the country had organically equipped her to be highly empathetic. By actively disengaging from anxiety-fueled thinking and focusing on moment-to-moment sensory experience – she conducted herself with more understanding, kindness and compassion toward herself and others.
Her exercising these components of mindfulness played a key role in the success of my exploration of Miami and gained us both a meaningful human connection. And for that I am immensely grateful.
My question to you is this: Will you try to control consumerist-driven practices, traffic, isolation, distrust, and selfishness-fueled anxieties or will you stop letting them control you?
#miami #miamimindfulness #bloodpressuredown #lifeworkbalance #roadrage #humanconnections #senseofurgency
Catalyst. Mindful Nomad. Advocate. Pure Essence.
Henry is a social researcher, and fluent in English, Portuguese and Spanish. He is a public relations veteran, creating magnetic, distinctive brand identities and building relationships for organizations and individuals. A multi-local globalized citizen. Get in touch if you are in need of innovative, thought provoking content.
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