There is always something new to learn, to create, to contemplate no matter whether you’ve been there and done that before. Remember this always. When you’re tired, bored, jaded or more importantly when you think you know (it all). There is always gold to be found.
I highly recommend watching the movie Groundhog Day (1993; featuring Bill Murray). It lives out exactly this, one day – the exact same one day lived over and over again, eventually with a richness and depth that would impress all variety seekers. It’s incredible how much more we could juice out of our days even if we experienced no change in our surroundings. There is so much unexplored right before our very eyes, even on the same familiar routes we travel each day.
Consider the sheer wonderment, the potential of new discovery if we used fresh eyes every day to gaze at our partners, friends, family and work colleagues? If we approached even our most mundane habits with an engaged, almost breathless anticipation?
In Japan there is “ichigyo-zammai”, which means complete concentration on a single task. All attention, focus, and concentration is about the doing of one thing. Very simply, when we drink coffee, we drink coffee; when we watch the sunrise, we watch the sunrise; when we unload the dishwasher, we unload the dishwasher. It is an act of present moment awareness. It cultivates appreciation, gratitude, connection, and joy. No matter if we do it once or one million times, we can cultivate a beautiful moment.
A beginner’s mind (Shoshin) is open, free, and curious. A desire and willingness to learn, be shown, all with infinite potential. When we shift toward the known, through experience, expertise, and familiarity, we can start to close our minds and ourselves off to the wonderment of possibilities and of growth.
The magic of being is always at our fingertips, every day and in every moment.
Love,
Jo x