On the magical mechanisms of mindfulness:
- Attention preceeds each experience we have
What we decide to (or let) our attention lend upon, temporarily takes-over our entire cognitive machinery for a moment. Our neurons wire in response to what we focus on in order to encode the information and ‘writes it’ in our brain. In a way we ‘become’ what we behold. It is a neuroscientific reality that attention shapes our brain along wih the experience we have, which William James puts better than anyone else:
“My experience is what I agree to attend to. Only those items which I notice shape my mind.” The Principles of Psychology, Vol.1
- The reality we walk in is made up by our brain: Reality is essentially virtual
Once perceived, our view of the world is then heavily mediated during brain processing (aka our brain trying to make sense of stuff). The object of perception is filtered through our senses first, our past experiences and impressions: we interpret what we see to make sense of reality. A bunch of cognitive biases are further imposed upon our perception of the world by our cultural operating system, by our language, by our religious affiliation, our preconceptions and prejudice. Our World is already a construction.
We don’t see things as they are; we see them as we are. — Anais Nin
What we call “our reality” is very subjective and therefore essentially virtual. That doesn’t make it any less real. Altough it might be closer to pattern recognition than truth, it is still a pattern of very useful information. Our filter bubble is as real as any other reality.
- We get used to EVERYTHING
Hedonic adaptation has it that whatever we are repetitively exposed to, we hardwire into our brain… That’s why our brain eventually stops paying attention to it. It is true of the worst events and of the most joyfull ones.
Research showed that people’s well-being and happiness goes back to baseline after most sets back or disasters, which includes the loss of lost ones and major life crises such as divorce or loosing one’s job. This phnomenon is very steady and reliable. The same is true of major life milestones, such as graduating or getting maried, promoted or becoming a parent: we rapidly habituate and in time the excitement fades away.
The enemies here are not so much the events themselves (or details of whathappened exactly): the enemy is the lack of novelty. Once we have built up a model and assimilated an event in our brain — however sad or happy — we update the library of ‘been there and done that’ and it soon stops feeling exciting.
Familiarity sadly breeds boredom.
- ‘Attentional stewarding’ is at the centre of the whole psychology and self-help industry
The definition of Attention is: to notice and be with something without trying to change it. That’s were meditation, yoga and breathing exercices come in. To help us become aware of our erratic attentional spotlight behaviour. We need all the helps we can get, to direct (or redirect) the spotlight of attention. It is no easy task.
I like to bear in mind that all realities are coloured, all realities are virtual, and we will get used to — or bored — of them. As much as I am fond of being aware of ‘what is’, I’m also acutely aware that ‘what is’ is mostly made up and I am not particulaly attached to it.
In fact, if our reality-fabrication is as flimsy as it appears and well-being is highly dependent upon the management of attention, then our capacity to steer awareness and decide where to allocate the spotlight of attention is what I am truly passionate about. I like to call it stewardship of internal life. When we have or acquire the capacity to steward the content of consciousness: we can become architects of inner experience. It grants us precious control of our inner movie which is the key to any clear mind, peace and lasting satisfaction.
- Designing Experience is possible and it is an art
Because attention is the fabric of reality, the art of ‘tweeking attention’ is at the centre of the entire self-help industry. The means that have been produced to facilitate attention steering are plentiful: meditation, affirmations, prayer, intentions, rituals, goal setting, mentra, mindset, therapy etc. Plentiful and redundant. Many of these techniques overlap extensively and it used to drive me mad. It doesn’t anymore. Life is an art and I have no scrupple using different brushes to pain the colours and perspectives I prefer, mindfully.