What is 'Mindfulness 2.0' that makes boring and monotonous life richer and more interesting?
When you wake up in the morning with your smartphone alarm ringing, you may feel gloomy and think, 'I have to go to a boring office again...' or you may be tired of the monotonous yet tedious tasks that pile up every day.
Transform the daily grind to make life more interesting – a philosopher shares 3 strategies to help you attain the good life
https://theconversation.com/transform-the-daily-grind-to-make-life-more-interesting-a-philosopher-shares-3-strategies-to-help-you-attain-the-good-life-243242
In a study on happiness and psychological well-being conducted by Bessel and others, it was found that people value 'experiences that are challenging, stimulating, and generate a range of emotions.' Most people would choose a 'psychologically well-being life' over a 'happy life' or a 'meaningful life.'
In his book, The Art of the Interesting: What We Miss in Our Pursuit of the Good Life and How to Cultivate It, Bessel explains how to add psychological richness to your life by making it more interesting. He says one of the easiest ways to add psychological richness to your life is to embrace the idea of 'Mindfulness 2.0 .'
◆What is “Mindfulness 2.0”?
Bessel says Mindfulness 2.0 is about 'bringing non-evaluative awareness to the world around you, which means paying attention without judging value.' For example, paying attention to the texture of the leaves of a houseplant, paying attention to the faces of strangers passing by on the sidewalk, or noticing the differences in the sizes of cans on supermarket shelves. Mindfulness 2.0 is about consciously paying attention to details that we usually overlook.
By noticing the details of the things that surround you through Mindfulness 2.0, your mind will be stimulated, you will be mentally engaged with your surroundings, and you will have interesting experiences. Bessel advises that the morning commute is a particularly good time to practice Mindfulness 2.0. Many people spend their time on their commute by watching videos on their smartphones or listening to music or podcasts, which is nothing more than a distraction from a part of life called the 'boring commute.'
Conversely, Mindfulness 2.0 reduces boredom by paying attention to what you see and hear during your commute and actively engaging with it. Noticing things around you, such as the people gathering at the bus stop, the traffic patterns changing as the traffic lights change, and the flocks of birds flying overhead, will move your mind and prepare you for interesting experiences.
Explore with curiosity
By focusing on the details of things around us through Mindfulness 2.0, we can think about the little things in our daily lives with curiosity. For example, if you notice that there are a lot of people gathered in front of the bus stop during your morning commute, curiosity can lead you to ask yourself the following questions:
-Was that bus stop there when I started commuting?
-How long has that strange real estate advert at the bus stop been in the same place?
If you stood with them at the bus stop, would you feel a connection with them? Or are they just riding the same bus without any sense of camaraderie?
'Asking questions forces you to think about things you never thought about before,' Bessel said. 'If you keep thinking about new thoughts, you'll have an interesting experience on the same commute. And even better, you'll have created that interesting experience yourself. You've exercised your ability to improve and take control of your life.'
◆ Be creative and try new things
To make your everyday life more interesting, it's also important to be 'creative.' You might think that creativity is something only artists and inventors have, but in fact, anyone can be creative, regardless of their profession or hobby. 'Creativity is the skill of forming new connections with your mind,' says Bessel. 'Any time you do something new or different, you're being creative. Whether you're painting a vivid landscape, dressing in a new color combination, inventing a new dish, or simply tweaking a recipe, it all falls under the umbrella of creativity.'
A little creativity brings more or less novelty to your life, which leads to psychological enrichment. Wearing clothes you don't usually wear, trying to write by hand, writing with a different color pen than usual, or changing your screensaver or smartphone wallpaper can all add novelty to your daily routine. When you start to pay attention to the impact that these small tweaks have on your daily life, you'll realize that these creative changes are gradually making your daily life more interesting.
'Everyone has different experiences that we find interesting, because whether we find something interesting or not depends on how our minds engage and respond to it. By developing Mindfulness 2.0 and bringing curiosity and creativity to our experiences, we can train our minds to engage and respond in ways that make any experience interesting. This is the power of mindset - a capacity that anyone can develop to improve their life,' Bessel said.
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