About
The Small Surprises Mindfulness Activity began when lifelong self-development practitioner and artist Jay Sullivan sought a way to slow down and “smell the roses”. One of his mentors, meditation coach and playwright, Jean-Claude van Itallie, suggested that he find ways to have “pleasurable moments during ordinary experiences”.
The Small Surprises Mindfulness Activity started as an experiment but soon became a habit. Since 2018, Jay has documented over 1000 Small Surprises, dramatically reducing the voice of his self-critic while increasing his enjoyment of the world and the people around him. He offers the Small Surprises Mindfulness Activity as a free public service in memory of Jean-Claude.
Jay Sullivan
Jay creates photography, video and performance art. His work falls at the intersection of memory, psychology and the creative process. He intentionally chooses subjects that challenge his emotional and psychological boundaries, seeking to understand a limiting emotional or psychological barrier within himself. He then creates a creative process that helps him go beyond those limitations. The creative process and its resulting effect upon the artist are the core of his work.
Jay Sullivan has studied psychology, creative process, and personal development for many years, attending numerous workshops and retreats with noted teachers that include: La Mama playwright, Jean Claude Van Itallie; New York performance coach, Carol Fox Prescott; Voice, Breathing and Alexander Coach, Jean McClelland; Life and Peak Performance Coach, Anthony Robbins; Photography in Coaching expert, Dorota Raniszewska; and Therapeutic Photography Professor, Neil Gibson. (Robert Gorden University, Scotland).
His experimental self-help videos have been shown at the London Short Film Festival, Love and Hope International Film Festival – Barcelona, Wales International Film Festival, Splice Film Festival, Coney Island Film Festival, and Vienna International Film Festival.
Jay also studied photography at Rochester Institute of Technology and received his Masters of Fine Art in Creative Practice from the University of Plymouth UK/Transart Institute for Creative Research in 2018.
Prior to embarking on an artistic career, Jay was a creative entrepreneur, co-founding two media companies that developed media for video, print, online installations, and live events for worldwide organizations. He’s traveled to over 20 countries on four continents, staging events and creating video documentaries that featured President Jimmy Carter, Secretary of State Madeline Albright, Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, Ossie Davis, the Ye minority in the remote mountains of southern China, Bambara farmers in Mali, and teenagers in the favelas of Sao Paulo, Brazil. His commercial productions have garnered a Cine Golden Eagle, NY Festivals Silver World Medal, Silver Screen Award, and many other honors.