Time to read: 3 minutes
Article at a glance:
- Being “awake and aware” means living with intention: aligned to your values, present to your life, and open to growth.
- Like a plane off course, we constantly drift. Reflection helps us notice and realign more quickly.
- When you define your values and the kind of person you want to be, it becomes much easier to recognize when you’re off course.
- What matters isn’t perfection, but how quickly we notice and gently correct
Do you ever feel like you’re living your life on autopilot, without really pausing to notice how amazing it is to be alive, or to question whether you’re living in alignment with your values?
Life is crazy. We get it.
We had a conversation with our friend Dewitt Jones, a photographer and speaker whose videos have been a staple in our Redmond culture materials for decades, and he shared some incredible stories and practices with us for becoming more “awake and aware.”
First of all, what does “awake and aware” even mean?
There are many different facets to this. A big part of being aware is recognizing whether you’re living in alignment with solid principles and values. It’s also being in tune with the abundance in your life. It’s noticing and appreciating the wonders of the world around you.
It’s mindfulness, gratitude, growth, self-awareness, and living intentionally.
Here’s one of our favorite stories (some and practices!) from our time with Dewitt!
Awake and Aware with Dewitt Jones: Everyday Practices
The Beeping Airplane
Have you heard that airplanes are off course 98% of the time, and they constantly self-correct to get where they need to go?
Dewitt shares a story about an instrument in an airplane that beeps when the plane is off course.
And it beeps constantly.
Well, we humans are similar, and this is perfectly normal. We’re always a little off course, but according to Dewitt, the important thing is how quickly we hear the beep.
So, what is the course? How do we know when we’re on it or off it?
“It’s easier to bring yourself back on course if you have spent time articulating what the course is.” -Dewitt Jones
At Redmond, our course is our mission and core values. If we find ourselves straying from those—beep!—we know we need to correct.
This is how our teams self-correct, and we think these values are great for individuals too.
How do you know when you’re off course?
In order to know whether we’re off course, we need to know what the course is!
Here are a few exercises to get started:
-Identify YOUR values. This list can help you get started with picking some out.
-What kind of person do you want to be? What kind of actions and values will help you be that person?
-Imagine you’re sitting at your 80th birthday party. What do you hope people will say about you? What can you do now to live that way?
Think about the following questions, write your answers in a journal, or discuss them with someone close to you:
- How am I being helpful and making a contribution?
- What matters most to me right now?
- What am I learning about myself?
- How am I growing in my Three Circles?
- Where do I feel on course, and where do I feel off course?
- How can I be a little more awake and aware right now?
This is why Reflection is one of our core values, because without it, we can easily fly way off course before we finally realize we’re far from where we want to be.
Do you realize right away and self-correct, or does it take you a while and require more correction to get back on course?
Awake and Aware: It’s the Whole Point
Becoming more awake and aware is a daily, moment-by-moment practice.
That’s really what we’re trying to do in our Redmond culture. That’s why we lean into core values and why we try to get to know ourselves and others.
Day by day, moment by moment, we strive to become more awake and aware so we can elevate the human experience together. It’s a lifelong process!
