Mindfulness and Meditation

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Self-Care and Being Digital in the Arts

King, Dorothée: Mindfulness and Meditation – Selfcare and being Digital in the Arts, Architecture Media Politics Society AMPS PROCEEDINGS SERIES ISSN 2398-9467, https://amps-research.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Amps-Proceedings-Series-28.1.pdf, 2023, 8-14.

Maybe you feel like most of all (art) students: Do you feel drained from all the digital input you are supposed to deliver, and all the digital output of others you consume? How does this affect your own creativity? In these digital times, do you also ask yourself how to deliver content, catch up with everyone, motivate yourselves, inspire others, stay creative, stay on track, stimulate discussion, be high-level intellectually, and deliver artistic excellence? All at the same time? Online? Wow. That is a lot. We cannot turn ourselves into multi-tasking cyborgs.1

In the last years, I taught graduate courses called “Mindfulness and Meditation – Self-Care and being Digital in the Arts.” We studied self-care methods. We learned ways to strengthen ourselves energetically. We identified the changes we individually want to see in this world – aka what to focus on and what to let go of. We expanded digitally, but only in directions we actually want to grow. All with the question: How to stay sane in the digital world as a creative human being. I am excited to share and contextualise with you the key points I identified, during my graduate courses and the intense last years of digital teaching and learning in the creative environment of an art school: Green up your life; The Healing Power of a Neutral Space; Do not miss the boredom; Get still and listen deeply; Get back into your body; Get Inspired: What brings you joy?; Connect to your buddies.