We are all unhappy wanderers
Source SubstackThis post by Bruce Sorkin hit hard because I’m most often than not a tourist in the present, with permanent residences in the past and the future:
Csikszentmihalyi talked about challenge, but I would also here invoke the Japanese concept of Beginner’s Mind or Shoshin. Derived from Zen Buddhism, and particularly popularized in the West by Shunryu Suzuki, it refers to dropping our preconceptions and approaching a subject with openness, eagerness, and a lack of bias—just as a beginner would. When your attitude is one of openness and exploration rather than merely confirming that the experience meets expectations, there is a greater chance of becoming absorbed into the experience, having your thoughts conform to the contours of the experience, and entering flow. You can approach an experience with wonder even if it is familiar.
A Mind Off the Leash is a lost mind—scared, wandering, and at risk.
A Mind on a Short Leash is a strained mind—rigid, anxious, forced and rebellious.
A Mind on a Soft Leash is a present mind—guided by Shoshin, open to the Flow, and truly at home.
Nearby leaves, connected by subject and form.