Many years ago, my daily commute to work involved a long journey across London on the Tube. For some time I fell into the habit of picking up a newspaper from the station, which I would diligently read from cover to cover. By the time I arrived at work I felt jaded, tainted by the grim tales of the day. There were rarely any positive stories.

Somehow this projected into my awareness. I couldn't change my commute, but I could change what I read. So I stopped picking up the newspaper and found novels to read instead.

I can still see myself now. Those hours on the Tube became some of the most precious moments of my day. My nose buried in a book, sometimes laughing, sometimes moved to tears, I was at peace with the hustle and bustle of the city folk around me.

It taught me a valuable lesson, to choose wisely where I place my attention, for it has a powerful impact.  To whatever I expose myself leaves an energetic imprint and this in turn affects my moods, thoughts and trickles down into how I feel in my body, and the actions I make going forward.

I didn't understand this at the time, but it relates directly to the teachings of the Kybalion, the ancient Hermetic text which states "to change your mood or mental state - change your vibration." Will directs Attention and Attention changes Vibration.

This doesn't mean that I stopped reading newspapers or disassociated myself from what is happening in the world. On the contrary, I am passionately interested in what is happening in our world and I continue to check in on the news daily. My intention is to check in from a place of awareness rather than being on automatic pilot which is a bit like being in a sleep state. Sometimes I catch myself watching the same loop of 24 hour TV news for the 2nd or 3rd time and I suddenly jump awake "do I really need to watch this again??!!!"

You can apply this to anything! Think of your habits, those things you do on automatic pilot, like scrolling through your Facebook feed, or eating the whole bar of chocolate. No judgement, just observe how you feel and ask yourself "does doing this leave me feeling energized or depleted?"

Photo © 2018 Jess Lakin, China Streets