353 Photography With A Shot of Mindfulness; Bob Younger

Bob Younger is a photographer with a thorough understanding of interconnectedness. His passion for photography began in grade school when he received a Brownie Starmite camera at Christmas. Gradually, he moved to larger format cameras, slowing down and adopting a mindful approach to photography. He discovered the value of building an emotional connection with his subjects. Today, Bob teaches how to achieve a deep emotional connection between photographer, subject, and photograph.

Contact Info

• Website: https://www.bobyounger.com
• Blog: https://www.bobyounger.com/blog
• Workshop Opportunity: Contemplative Photography:  Join Bob Younger with a small group of photographers in Tuscany, Italy for a week of collaborative study and experience.  https://www.ilchiostro.com/workshops/contemplative-photography/?workshopinfo=1

Most Influential Person

• Richard Rohr has probably been one of the biggest influences in my life. We've attended a number of his conferences and read a number of his books and listened to a lot of his work on CD. https://cac.org/richard-rohr/richard-rohr-ofm/

Effect on Emotions

• Mindfulness is a standard. I would probably tell you I used to operate right at the edge. It didn't take very much [to get me there].
• Even if Sandra [my wife] said, can I ask you a question? That would emotionally put me at the edge or over. So mindfulness and meditation have moved me to separate that a whole lot further away and I'm not really sure where the edge is right now, but I haven't been there in a long time.

Thoughts on Breathing

• This is where meditation has really helped. It's because I realized that a breath is now and, and it's sort of the smallest part.
• It started the smallest piece of life that I can sort of separate out from the rest. And so I've learned that breathing, whether it's during meditation or whether it's just during the day, whenever I'm doing it enables me to say no, this is the breath, this is right now.
• Take a breath and then let's take the next breath. And so I've been able to bring myself back to this particular moment in time, this breath. I used to count in meditation one, two, three.
• I was always getting discouraged when I realized there had been a whole lot of breaths in there that hadn't been counted. And when I choose to count, I just only count to one because one is all you've got right now.

Suggested Resources

• Book: The Zen of Creativity: Cultivating Your Artistic Life by John Daido Loori
• Book: Wherever You Go There You Are by Jon Kabat-Zinn
• Book: The Tao of Photography: Seeing Beyond Seeing by Gross and Shapiro
• Book: The Miracle of Mindfulness: An Introduction to the Practice of Meditation by Thich Nhat Hanh
• Book: More than a Rock by Guy Tal
• App: Calm

Childhood Story

• I don't ever remember being secure in who I was. I wasn't stupid; I did ok in school. We moved around a lot. I went to three different elementary schools, two different middle schools, and four different high schools.
• Growing up for me was moving around a lot and kind of making friends, but in retrospect, I realize I really never developed any close friends and I'm not in touch with anybody I ever knew growing up. I never established a community.
• I was never a part of a community as I was growing up. I was always alone because if we were someplace long enough, I was probably getting ready to move anyway.
• I learned to adjust, but I also never developed long-term relationships that many people did when they grew up and went to the same schools with the same people.

Free Gift

Do you want to improve the focus, drive, and productivity of your employees? If so, you can learn how by downloading, '10 Simple & Effective Ways to Increase Mindfulness in the Workplace Now', a free PDF at www.MindfulnessMode.com/workplacep.