Heroes Not Zombies

There are lots of ways to make life good, but, here’s two practices which work best for me.

The first is, “stop”. Take a pause. We have a tendency to go through life semi-consciously, following habits, zoning out, and just not noticing the here and now. We can drive a regular route and when we arrive at our destination we can’t remember what we saw on the way. We can get to the end of January and think “Where did that go?” Everything is getting faster…..the news cycle, where the latest drama shocks you and upsets you, then, before you know it, it’s gone, as if it never existed, having already been replaced with the next shocker. Technology develops faster and faster, and the latest smartphone is virtually redundant from the moment you buy it, because already they are hyping the next “better” model. “Fast fashion” is just that….try and keep up….what you bought today is out of date tomorrow. “Doom scrolling” hooks us into an endless flow of mini posts, headlines, adverts, each one forgotten within days, of not within minutes.

The counter to all this is to slow down and pay attention. Yes, it might even involve actually stopping. You can set off today with an intention to notice…to see what catches your attention, to notice beauty, to allow yourself to be curious. But you have to slow down to reap the benefit. You have to pause, to really become aware of the present – what do you see, hear, smell, or taste, or what can you feel, right now?

The second is “reflect”. You can reflect right within the moment…as you notice something, take a moment to reflect on it, to contemplate it. And the other thing I like to do is take out my phone and take a photo. If you photograph what caught your attention, you give yourself multiple opportunities to reflect on it later.

There’s my two practices for today – “Stop” and “Reflect”. Try them both.