The Art of Collecting Evidence - If we’re brave enough to see it

At any given point, in every moment of every day, we are collecting evidence. Our brains and our bodies are collecting data. The human brain loves binary - right or wrong, yes or no, good or bad, love or fear. It’s the nature of our humanness to want to put everything in neat and tidy boxes.

This means that whatever beliefs and thoughts we have, our minds will collect evidence that supports it. Our minds love congruence, even if it’s not serving us in a positive way.

Something I began thinking about and using as a tool for myself and those I serve a long time ago is the art of collecting evidence. Rather than make myself, my brain and my humanness wrong for the way it operates - what if I could wield it to create the results and life I want? And, not just me, what if I could present it as a skill and way of being that others can replicate?

This beloved tool of mine is expressed in what I call mindful empowerment. Mindfulness is a path to my power, self-love is a bridge to my potential and as part of these values, I’ve come to adopt the art of collecting evidence as an important way of being in my life.

I’ve seen countless students and clients employ it for their own success as well. It’s a tool, a perspective, way of being and a fun game if we let it be.

Through the art of collecting evidence I believe all of us can create the reality we want in our lives, in any situation and to do it all on purpose.

Just like many great things in this life, it begins with some great questions.

What evidence are you collecting?

Evidence is data, evidence is proof, evidence is information. One of the beautiful things about mindfulness is being able to sit in the observer seat of your own life. From that seat, it’s easier to play the game. And, may I say, it’s more fun.

My thoughts, beliefs and the evidence I collect work together as a unit. Sometimes it’s a super sweet dream team unit that supports me to great heights. Other times it’s a group of tweaked out gremlins that pull me down into the muck.

My mind immediately wants congruence, so it’s going to locate loads of evidence that supports whatever I’m thinking or believing. If it’s “I can’t do this”, it may find memories from when I struck out in baseball in childhood, it may succinctly remind me of every painful failure I’ve had, it probably will have a nice long quickly assembled list.

In the same vein, if “I can do this” is present - my mind immediately goes to work to collect evidence to make that true. I’ll be able to list all of the hard things I’ve done in the past, parts of my life I’m currently showing that I do hard things (ahem pandemic!) and how I’ve taken hundreds of auditions and done well. Again, I can have a nice long quickly assembled list.

My first step in the art of evidence collecting is asking, what evidence are you currently collecting? Said another way, what are the reasons I tell myself why things are or are not possible? What is manifesting in your life? What evidence was behind that?

What evidence are you creating?

Not only am I a collector of evidence, I am a creator of evidence. What do I collect and what do I create? Everything single thing I do in my life is creating some kind of evidence.

Let’s say I have a goal to master a new piece at the piano. No matter what I choose to think or believe, if I’m not practicing each day, if I’m not taking actions to improve, if I’m not taking steps toward my goal, I am creating evidence about who I am and what I’m capable of.

Through my actions, I am creating evidence that I don’t follow through with what I say I’ll do, and evidence that I can’t do it because I don’t even show up. I am creating evidence that I break trust with myself and that I am inconsistent. I am creating evidence that goes directly against the outcome I desire and the person I want to be.

Regardless of what I choose to believe or think in this case - I am creating a whole lot of evidence that cuts the legs right out from underneath those affirmations. Ultimately I won’t believe any of it because I’ve created massive evidence that debunks it.

If I have the exact same goal, to master a new piece at the piano, I can align my mind and actions to create the result I want! If I show up at the piano each day to put in reps, if I take lessons, if I take action steps I am creating massive evidence.

I build evidence that I am consistent, I show up, I follow through on what I say I’ll do. I make evidence in my practice each time I play it well, so then I’ll actually believe it’s possible when it comes to the performance.

All of this evidence can also sustain belief and thoughts toward success when my dreams and results aren’t attained right away. Many people quit things because of the combination of their actions and evidence working against them.

A way to sustain in the long game and long term projects is to have both of those on your side - collect and create amazing evidence to support you in continuing in the direction you desire.

Long story short, I can create any kind of evidence I want through my actions. The combination of knowing what evidence I currently collect and knowing that I can actively create evidence through my actions is powerful.

It puts me into the seat of power and possibility - where magic happens. It calls me forward in sacred responsibility.

What do you choose to believe, what evidence do you choose to collect?

This may just be the most important part of the art of collecting evidence - deciding what you choose to collect and create evidence for. To me, this is a choice about who I am, what I care about and what my heart says. This is the art of my identity and the art of my life that I get the create on purpose.

This is where the true art comes in. To me, this is where character, personality and humanity come into play.

Everything else is the data - this is the heart.

It begins with choice. I always have a choice about what I choose to think or believe. Full stop. While I may want and need support in maintaining this because I’m a human with human tendencies, I know that it’s a choice.

Knowing that I can choose to collect evidence and create evidence gives me freedom to believe in myself and a world I love - and therefore create it.

If I decide to think “The world is a horrible evil place”, there is a ton of evidence for that! I could find a huge long list right away. The question is, does that serve me in a positive way? Does this type of evidence collection support the emotional state, results and life I want to create? Is this actually what I believe in?

Just as easily, I can decide “The world is a loving and magical place” and immediately have a stack of evidence that brings me joy. I have a stack of evidence that supports the world I’m consciously creating, how I want to feel, the results I am manifesting and all of the interactions I have.

There will always be evidence to support a plethora of beliefs. It’s about choosing what you at your core want to give power to, value to and space in you psyche and heart to. It’s also about looking beyond current circumstances or ugly things right in your face to continue to believe in good and collect evidence of the possibility of better. This is the heart.

Just yesterday, we inaugurated a new president of the United States. If every citizen and politician had decided to only collect evidence for the problems in our country, there is no way we would be inaugurating our first womxn Vice President. This was possible because in every interaction, every petition, every smile and every sunrise, people all over the country chose to collect evidence and create evidence for the good.

It’s important to note that this is not about bypassing. Bypassing is the act of opting out of reality through a spiritual escape route, ie only existing in practices rather than the real world that contains pain and problems. Rather than bypass, I can use my drishti. Drishti is the Sanskrit word for gaze. It’s what I choose to focus on and what I focus on, grows.

Through this practice, I constantly seek experiences in my life that will create evidence. If I feel stressed, I meditate - it’s evidence that I have a calm center. If I feel weak, I lift weights - I show myself my strength. I take ice showers each morning for my health yes, more importantly though, I start my day with concrete evidence that my mind is powerful and I am powerful.

What are your stats?

This part is so fun! It’s fun because it has nothing to do with what I’ve done up until this point and everything to do with the stats and habits I’m creating with evidence moving forward. It gets to be a game.

I look at what I usually create evidence for. If it’s supporting my goals, who I want to be and the world I believe in, I make lots and lots of evidence through my actions. The more the evidence and actions, the more easily I’ll see my potential and beliefs come to fruition. It will become a habit, just a part of what I do and how my mind operates.

If I currently have part of my life where I’m creating evidence against what I actually want, that’s ok! It’s actually amazing news. Truth is a window to growth. From this point, I get to pivot and then take new actions to start piling up the evidence toward what I DO want to create.

Stats will play in your favor when the evidence you are creating toward what you want far outweighs the opposite. As a human, it’s part of life that there are days that I don’t create evidence I love. That’s ok. It’s all about the stats.

If you have a really high batting average of awesomeness, the outliers won’t touch you. Flipped the other way, if you have a high batting average toward what you don’t actually want, the outliers of positive are not going to get you the positive result.

The stats need to be on my side if I want their support. I have the power over my evidence stats! Decide your direction and go. Each day you’ll build your numbers, habits and eventually ways of being toward creating the vision, results, life and world you seek to experience and bring forth.

If we’re brave enough to see it

While I generally view my art of evidence collection to be a playful and expansive endeavor, it isn’t always that way. Awareness and information can be painful. It takes courage to stare truth in the face and in that stare choose well.

I believe in this art. I believe in the beauty of collecting evidence, I believe in whole-hearted living, I believe in unconditional love and I believe in seeking and creating a world I can get behind.

Through consciousness we can all collect, create, choose and raise my stats on amazing evidence of an amazing world, amazing evidence of our amazing abilities, and amazing evidence of what’s possible. It’s through sharing this artform of mine that I seek to empower you and other’s to do the same.

Amanda Gorman wrote and shared at the inauguration, “There’s always light if only we’re brave enough to see it. If only, we’re brave enough to be it.”

Amanda is a fellow lover of evidence. She’s a fellow collector and creator.

She chooses light.

And so do I.

Do you?

Today, I invite you to journal about the Art of Collecting Evidence. You can apply it to a challenge in your life, a goal, a way of being - whatever comes to your mind and heart.

What evidence are you collecting?

What evidence are you creating?

What do you choose?

How are your stats?

If you’d like to learn and experience more tools like this with me, I am hosting a free training today, 1/21, called Abundant Artists for all creatives. Register here before noon to grab a spot!

If you’d love to learn evidence collection art and more by way of the piano, for either yourself or your child, reach out to me here! I’d love to make music with you and build a mindfulness toolkit together.

And finally, I was interviewed on my first podcast! It’s called Education is Life and is hosted by an amazing school in Chicago, Greenfields Academy.. I dive into my teaching philosophy and why it matters. I had a blast doing this! Here is the link. It's also available on Apple podcasts. 

How do you use your evidence collecting art?

What are you brave enough to see and be?

I'm sending you into your day with courage and perhaps a new art-form that could impact your life for the better.

In collection, creation and being for a better world,
⭐️ Adrienne