Supplemental Mindfulness

My buddy came by yesterday to hang out, additionally stating that he had gotten me a gift. I was kind of stoked about that actually, as my busy schedule has left me rather anti-social lately, let alone someone to be gift-worthy. He arrived, we caught up with the past few weeks and what's been going on and such, and then he presented me with this small, cloth bag. Not really knowing what to expect, I emptied the contents into my hand to find a crystal.

More specifically, an amethyst.

He explained to me the purpose, and the story behind why he got it. The whole culture of it was new to me, but a lot of people believe these stones and crystals have certain beneficial properties to them beyond just being physical objects. Amethyst, in particular, is said to be the 'stone of the mind' assisting with quelling anxiety, confusion, brain fog, addiction, and stress (he did a good job pinning down my personality, I'll give him that).

Now anyone who knows me knows that I am not a very spiritual person. I've always been a believer of science, mathematics, logic, and physicality. I won't go too far into religion here, but many would likely label me an atheist. So on paper, to me, a stone like this would be nothing but a paper weight, and yet I really appreciated it for what it was, even besides the fact that it was a thoughtful gift.

As I was reflecting on why I seemed to appreciate this amethyst, despite my very non-spiritual tendencies, I arrived at the words...

Supplemental mindfulness.

Despite it being an annoying amount of syllables, it helped me draw a lot of conclusions about why someone like me could truly appreciate something like this. It's actually not far from why I can still appreciate spirituality as an atheist. It's never been about the destination (or in this case, the object), but about the path and the symbolism decorating it.

'Mindfulness' as a skill set of sorts is extremely difficult to master. Conquering anger, anxiety, depression, fear; all things that manifest from our negative experiences and actions, or arguably just our own human nature itself. It's not so much about completely banishing these feelings, but more so not letting the weight of them swing you around. I'll be the first to admit that often times, it does.

To me, this is conditioning. Knowing what it represents, this stone has the potential to be the bell of the 'Pavlov's dog' of our being, with the reward being mindfulness itself. It's something that we have to constantly remind ourselves, and the busy, fast-paced world we live in has a way of making us easily forget. Having a supplemental object to remind us to consistently condition our mind isn't such a bad thing. And in that way (or otherwise), the amethyst works exactly the way it's been described.

Whether or not we believe in healing properties of religion, or stones, or higher powers in regards to our minds and souls, sometimes the belief itself doesn't really matter; it never hurts to have a reminder to take some time to care for ourselves, and each other.

Thanks for reading!

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