Category: tools

Psychologist Ellen J.  Langer’s “Counter Clockwise: mindful health and power of possibility”, 2009.  Excerpt of the book.  Episode of NPR-Talk of the Nation, from this past August; a quote from the transcript.

LANGER: Well no, I think it’s easier than it sounds, actually, that, you know, it’s – people often confuse mindfulness with thinking, and thinking has gotten a bad rap itself. Now, when you’re being mindful, as I study it, you’re simply noticing new things. Even when you’re thinking, what is stressful is the worry that you’re not going to get the answer right, not the actual playing with the material.

Mindfulness is what you’re doing when you’re at leisure. If you are, oh, let’s say, on a vacation, you’re looking for new things. You’ve paid a lot of money to be in that state oftentimes. So I think that people would recognize that it’s enjoyable rather than taxing. And it’s even more than that. It’s I think mostly energy begetting, not consuming.

Reminds me a bit of  “The Art of Travel” by Alain De Botton.