Psychology, Mindfulness

We are all unhappy wanderers

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…