It’s Thanksgiving week in the U.S. of A. and I’m off visiting my family. Recently, one of my favourite sites, On Being, rebroadcast a podcast with the wonderful social psychologist Ellen Langer – The Science of Mindlessness and Mindfulness.
Langer has been doing research on mindfulness for decades, long before it was the current rage. Today, we think of practices like meditation and yoga as ways to be mindful. Langer says that these things are good practices, but they are just that practices – a means to an end, which is to be more mindful in your everyday life. They are not absolutely necessary. She says that mindfulness is not something you “try” to do; rather, when you actively notice new things you are quite naturally mindful. In other words, you are present in your experience. Isn’t that what we do when we photograph?
“Direct mindfulness is when you actively notice new things that puts you in the present; makes you sensitive to context. As you’re noticing new things, it’s engaging. And it turns out, after a lot of research, that we find that it’s literally, not just figuratively, enlivening.”
I wrote about this podcast back in 2015 on the blog – Photography as a Mindfulness Practice. Later that same year, I read Langer’s book, On Becoming an Artist: Reinventing yourself through Mindful Creativity, and wrote a post called The Value of Uncertainty. I think this book may have been what sparked me to create a course on Celebrating Impermanence.
Whether you’re celebrating Thanksgiving or not, why not actively notice new things this week in your familiar world or familiar people? Be surprised.
And, if you have time, do revisit the posts above or listen to the podcast.
** Books mentioned have Amazon affiliate links, meaning I make a few cents if you purchase through my link. I only recommend books that I’ve read.