Mindfulness before Black Friday 2019

Yesterday, I attended a mindfulness course, a small group of five female participants, learning how to develop resilience, focus on the present, deal with difficult emotions and develop emotional intelligence. The mentor was asking us ‘did you did anything new in the past two weeks?’ I then shared everyone with what I thought as the following:

We are entering the official Black Friday 2019 sales, which start on November 29. Therefore, I have received a lot of information encouraging me to do all your Christmas shopping. And I used to buy some decorations every year to give my room a new view of holiday vibes. However, I decided not to shop Christmas stuff this year; instead, I will put old Christmas ornaments on my window.

Leeds X'mas Market

The main reason is for green--environmental-friendly. And Christmas is not for shopping but for celebrating the birthday of Jesus Christ. It is about love and peace, and people love to share love and gratitude by giving away gifts. It is not necessary to become a perfect excuse for a lot of shopping. However, in terms of the price, I agree that some people so shopping especially on this date because they can have better deals. They are smart shoppers rather than shopaholics.

Leeds X'mas Market

The mentor’s feedback is surely positive. She suggests that we look at the weather inside the mind and body instead of that from outside. To listen to your voices and concentrate on what you really want to achieve. For example, if your goal is health, then stop eating lots of sugar. In addition, learning new knowledge or skills, such as reading a new book, is also a good way to update emotions, which makes you feel like there is a different world out there worthy to explore.

Leeds X'mas Market

Leeds City Centre

Indeed, there are new changes that brought about good inspirations and creations. When I visited the University of Leeds last week, I noticed that they have introduced a smoke-free campus since 1 August 2019, and asked people to bring their own cups when the meeting offers coffee and tea.

And when I strolled around Leeds city, I tried to use the new skill I just learned from photographer Simon Palmour, and therefore, I found my photo world became rich.

University of Leeds

University of Leeds

  

So, have you done something new lately? Overcome inertia from inside and wear on a new mood for a new season.

昨天，我參加了一個由五個女性參與者組成的小組的正念課程，學習瞭如何發展韌性，專注於當下，應對困難的情緒和發展情緒智商。導師問我們“您在過去兩週內做了什麼新的事情嗎？”我於是向所有人分享了我的看法，內容如下：

我們將進入將於11月29日開始的黑色星期五2019正式折扣。因此，我收到了很多信息，鼓勵我進行聖誕節購物。過去，我每年都會購買一些裝飾品，使我的房間有一種新的假期氛圍。但是，我決定今年不購物聖誕節的東西。取而代之的是，我將舊的聖誕節裝飾品放在窗戶上。最重要的原因是綠色（環保）。聖誕節不是為了購物，而是為了慶祝耶穌基督的生日。這關乎愛與和平，人們喜歡通過贈送禮物來分享愛與感激。這大可不必成為大血拚的完美藉口。但是，就價格而言，我同意有些人特別在這個日期購物，因為他們可以買到更好的交易價格。他們是聰明的購物者，而不是購物狂。

導師的反饋肯定是積極的。她建議我們著眼於身心內部而不是外界,傾聽您的聲音並專注於您真正想要實現的目標。例如，如果您的目標是健康，那就停止吃很多糖。另外, 學習新知識或新技能（例如讀一本新書）也是更新情緒的一種好方法，這會讓您覺得有一個值得探索的不同世界。

確實，有一些新變化帶來了良好的靈感和創造力。上週當我訪問leeds大學時，我注意到他們從2019年8月1日起開始推動無菸校園，並要求人們在會議場合提供咖啡和茶時自帶杯子。當我在Leeds閒逛時，我嘗試用剛剛從攝影師西蒙·帕爾默那裡學到的新技能，因此，我發現自己的攝影世界變得更加豐富了。

那麼，您最近是否做了新的事情？克服內心的惰性，為新的季節穿上新的心情吧。  

Chester: A Black and White City

Visit Chester

If you need a short break or a city escape from industrial Manchester and Liverpool, Chester is a good choice. Just within a one-hour train distance, you can step into an ancient place, searching for an old soul.

My friend once told me that London or Manchester is an international city where attracts many tourists; however, she would prefer to live in England’s countryside or a small town—a place more suitable for life. She once visited York and told me that Chester is just like York, offering people a pretty and historical backdrop, relaxed vibes, easy walking paths for a perfect day out. Therefore, Chester becomes a must-see in my sightseeing lists. I checked the similarity between the two cities before my visit. 

Yes, similar to York, Chester is a city with the footsteps of Roman soldiers and a Viking invasion past. Both York and Chester were originally founded as a fort by the Romans. The small-town life where craftsmen and merchants came to live here and the trading model was gradually created by the fort.

Both the ancient city walls and the main river meandering along the city (the Ouse River in York; the River Dee in Chester) have helped to develop the sightseeing models in two cities: strolling through ancient walls and streets and taking cruise tours on the River. In addition, they both have an over 1000-year-old Cathedral standing up in the city centres and each has a designer outlet and racecourse on the outskirts.

When it comes to ‘the most’ in the Britain, according to England’s Heritage Cities (2019), ‘Chester has the most complete city walls, the oldest racecourse and the largest Roman Amphitheatre in Britain’; On the other hand, ‘York Minster is one of the world’s most magnificent cathedrals and, since the 7th century, it has been at the centre of Christianity in the north of England.’ (York Minster, 2019) They all put efforts to well reserve medieval architectures to offer you breathtaking views and unforgettable memories.

At first glance, you might think the two cities would be similar in a way. In fact, when I visited Chester, I felt a different atmosphere there, including people, shops, gardens, gardens and trees. I saw a pigeon house in Chester that I never saw in York; more local people walk on the city walls in Chester as part of their ordinary paths than York people do.

Although they share some similar features, the city landscape has shaped and evolved differently by human activities respectively. Take a walking tour of Chester city centre with a birdview from the famous Eastgate Clock--

there are more magnificent gothic-style houses that can be seen in Chester and its black & white buildings stand stylishly on the main street. 

I just participated in a photography workshop last week, in which photographer Simon Palmour introduced the idea of black & white to highlight personal portrait, historical building, the relationship between the city and people. Therefore, today I especially try to apply this idea to photos taken in Chester to present the uniqueness of the city.

如果您需要短暫休息或離開工業曼徹斯特和利物浦，請選擇切斯特。 在一小時的火車距離內，您便可以走進古老的地方，尋找古老的靈魂。

我的朋友曾經告訴我，倫敦或曼徹斯特是一個吸引許多遊客的國際城市，而她寧願住在英格蘭的鄉村或小鎮-一個更適合生活的地方。 她曾經參觀過約克市，並說Chester就像York，在一日遊中為人們提供美麗而歷史的背景，輕鬆的氛圍，輕鬆的步行道。 因此，Chester成為我的觀光名單中必看的景點，在訪問之前，我還查了一下兩個城市之間的相似性。

是的，與約克類似，Chester是一座有著羅馬士兵的足跡和過去維京人入侵的城市。 約克和切斯特最初都是由羅馬人建立了防禦堡壘，當時是小鎮生活的地方，工匠和商人來到這裡生活，從堡壘逐漸建立了貿易模式。

古老的城牆和蜿蜒在市中心的主要河流（約克的烏斯河；切斯特的迪河）都有助於開發兩個城市的觀光模式: 漫步在古老的城牆和街道上，以及乘船遊覽河。此外，他們倆在城市中都有一座擁有1000多年歷史的大教堂，甚至都在郊區設有折扣購物中心和賽馬場。

如果是提到英國之”最”根據英國的《遺產城市》（Heritage Cities，2019），在英國，“切斯特”擁有英國最完整的的古城牆，最古老的賽馬場和英國最大的羅馬露天劇場。在約克，“約克大教堂是世界上最宏偉的大教堂之一，自公元7世紀以來，它一直是英格蘭北部基督教的中心。”（約克大教堂，2019年）它們都保留了中世紀的建築，可提供您獲得無與倫比的景觀和難忘的回憶。

乍看之下，你可能會認為這兩個城市是相似的。實際上，當我去Chester時，我感到那裡的氣氛不同，包括人，商店，花園，甚至樹木。我看到了在York從未見過的鴿子屋。與約克人比較, 我看到更多的當地人把古城牆作為普通道路的一部分在上面行走。

儘管它們具有一些相似的特徵，但城市景觀在人類活動中已塑造和演變地分別不同。在Chester市中心徒步旅行，從Eastgate Clock鳥瞰，在Chester 可以看到更多宏偉的哥特式房屋，其黑白建築有特色地地屹立在主要街道上。

我上周剛參加了一個攝影工作坊，攝影師 Simon Palmour介紹了黑白圖像的概念。 在某些情況下，它可用於突出個人肖像，歷史建築，城市和人物關係。 因此，今天，我特別想應用在Chester 的照片來呈現這座城市的獨特之處。