What does it mean to meditate in action? How does slowing down actually help you create faster? Remix Phnom Penh participant Kagna Mourng reflects on her experience during School of Slow Media's three day mindful media lab.
“After all of this experience, I remind myself consistently to slow down... to ‘pause.’”
When I first started making videos during REMIX, I was intimidated.
One of my teammates is a professional cameraman and editor. He’s shot much footage and I questioned him a lot how he combined it all together. Then, I still had more questions in my mind. Could I finish the shooting in two hours? Could I finish my interview with my new participant? How could I go to deep conversation? Could I get what I want?
One memorable moment was on the second day during filming. My team was supposed to interview a coconut seller near Beung Keng Kang market. Because of the rain, our plan completely changed. All the ideas were re-arranged and we had to come up with new plans in the last minute. We were walking to find new participant and discussing at the same time. It all seemed messy and ill-preparation to me. But as we were walking and talking, we met our new documentary participant, a book seller right outside our venue.
But one of the most memorable moments was in the afternoon on the third day, when we were editing. We were quite rushed to edit, add subtitles in English, and finalize our video in the short period of time. I can say that it is the most stressful and urgent period.
Suddenly, all the REMIX participants were invited to do mindfulness meditation and lay down on the floor for a while. Honestly, I did not want to join at all and I questioned why I was wasting my time to sit for meditation as I wanted to finish my video as soon as possible. During mediation, I paused myself to relax and calm my mind. After meditation, my mind completely changed and I found it incredibly helpful. I felt pleasant, energetic, and deeply calm to concentrate on my video.
Later, I realize that the fact that I learn is not to have a great video within today in two hours. The goal is to get my feet wet, learn, and build video-making confidence, come up with good storyline and have a technical skill on video editing. It is about learning and experiencing how to solve problems. It’s an opportunity to accept the flexibility and readjust plans.
Any moment now when I find myself rushing, I clearly remember about mindfulness meditation. Being mindful works at any time, whether I’m producing a video or just eating. I learned to eat chocolate happily and peacefully. During REMIX we did a “chocolate meditation.” I remember I picked up a morsel of chocolate, examined it and chewed it slowly. I maintained my full attention on the process of chewing. I could feel the sweetness and all the taste from the chocolate and was able to enjoy the deep pleasure of eating. After a few minutes, I become a chocolate lover.
After all of this experience, I remind myself consistently to slow down... to “pause.” I have kept the practice to slow my activities down as a way to meditate in action. The quality of this training is not about technical video production but also to be at inner peace person in whatever role you play.
Words by Kagna Mourng,
REMIX Phnom Penh, August 23 - 25, 2017