One day I was walking around Vivo City, one of the largest malls here in Singapore and I made a purchase at a stationary shop.
Because of my purchase, I was entitled to a free quote card. I read through all of them and rapidly decided to pick the one that read: “embrace the ordinary with enchantment”
I knew it was something I had been struggling with and so I decided to have that card at home as my daily reminder.
We live in a magical existence. everything around us is so utterly unexplainable: why things are the way they are and not otherwise and why they are there at all to begin with? They are so colorful and so diverse, think of how different things are, from trees, to stones, to animals to manmade miracles such as cars or airplanes.
Everything is so mysterious and yet perfectly efficient in the way it operates, following laws of mathematical perfection, a perfect balance in the midst of atomic chaos… so really everything should be embraced with mere enchantment.
And yet, it is so incredibly difficult to override the power of habit. Because we’re used to almost everything, because our adult minds have placed verbal labels onto every single element of reality, we wake up and most days feel ordinary. Mundane. Repetitive. It’s the tragedy of taking for granted.
But be careful here that you can’t escape this tragedy by simply intellectualizing the process, by going around and saying ‘we live in a magical universe’, or proselytizing about gratitude and such. You really need to become conscious, and cognize the beauty of the moment and that’s really difficult to do. Even more, to do consistently.
When you’re lost in thoughts, or you had a bad day at work, you’ve received bad news, or need to work on a B-plan for your business because something unexpectedly broke: can you really be conscious of the beauty of the moment, the incredible complexity of a flower and how its mere existence couldn’t be better architected by the finest artist of all times?
You ask me? I can do that, in every moment. And that’s why my existence is so amazing. And I can show you how. OF COUSE I CANNOT!! Stop being so gullible for God’s sake.
If there’s something that I can do, I always try to cultivate a more present mind, and then it happens occasionally on its own accord. The awareness of pure magic flashes before my eyes for a few instants at a random moments of the day, then it slips away so quickly, if I ever try to latch onto it.
What about when your day is boring and there is no stimulation, no friends to hang out with, no Netflix show to watch, no reward, no occasion to celebrate, no special dinner, no titillation here and there, no interesting project to execute upon, can you still see the beauty in the keyboard of your laptop, the watercooler of your office, the clouds outside the window? If you can’t, it’s totally fine, because it’s pretty damn hard. But perhaps you can start to get glimpses here in there, in the mundane and that’s already amazing. Be proud, savour it.
After all, why would we have an invasion of ever increasingly complex consumer goods, such as technology, videogames, VR and the list never ends, if most people were capable of feeling content and enchanted by the mere sight of a tree?
But paradoxically, as long as you’re not faced with circumstances that are markedly threatening or physically disturbing – your ability to enjoy the moment and embrace the ordinary with enchantment has a lot more to do with your internal disposition than what is presented out there. Perhaps you don’t need more exciting simulated worlds in your Oculus Rift.
Here’s some of the actual cornerstones to a magical experience of existence. Things that – in the process of largely overestimating external rewards – you’ve largely underestimated.
How aware and conscious you are of your bodily sensations
With every reaction and interpretation of your mind, you’re building up tensions in your body. For most people in modern society, their bodily awareness at this day and age is so low that they create constant tension in the body without even realizing, experiencing tension only in the form of thoughts or emotions. But you carry around a relaxed body throughout the day, and you’re happier, calmer, more peaceful. It’s that simple.
How aware you are of your breathing
Breathing is a magical thing. Unfortunately, most people have never seriously breathed in their entire life! And it’s not an exaggeration because I’ve been there. I remember the exact moment that I practically gained full consciousness of my breath. And let me tell you that there is breathing and then there is conscious breathing, and it’s pretty much like discussing of orgasm, knowing theoretically what sex is about versus experiencing it!
How much of that awareness you carry in the moment to moment experience is so crucial, so precious, that if society collectively had a proper understanding of this, money would seem a cheap currency in comparison. Because your breathing IS YOUR CURRENCY when transacting with the present moment: your bridge between the inner and outer world.
How undisturbed your mind is from compulsive thinking
How good can your experience of life be when you’re riddled with anxiety, because any thought can get a hold on you and play you like a fool? Even if I give you a villa, a swimming pool, bottles of champagne, three Lamborghini’s, a helicopter, do you think you’re going to feel happy? For how long? I’ll tell you for how long: as long as those things offer some distraction from the thoughts that will inevitably be grinding you down again.
There’s just one permanent antidote and you can’t buy it: mindfulness.
How playfully and non-seriously you take the circumstances
Again, this is not about smiling, joking, always displaying a façade of optimism. I see way too many people completely fooled and led astray in modern personal development circles. They’re just replacing their outer identity with this caricature of a positive-thinker.
What makes a true difference is only your deep inner attitude. Can you see the mind of a playful child behind all creation? Can you – in the heart of your hearts – see how every social situation is a role play worth laughing of, even when presidents of nations, suited up in their egos, meet to discuss the destiny of the world? It’s a real deep level of personal growth, not some loosey-goosey self-help gimmick. It’s true ultimate playfulness, ultimate detachment, an enlightened laughter hiding at the bottom of your heart in every second.
Once you build your life on these cornerstones – and that’s quite a feat, don’t be mistaken – what comes out there is a bonus. More or less money. A pleasant beach sight, or a backyard. A faster or slower car. It’s all bonus. And ironically, it even tends to flow into your life more, if you still wish for it.
Also published on Medium.
