meditative everyday experiences
Usually, when heading somewhere or doing some mindless task (doing the dishes, cleaning, grocery shopping), I listen to podcasts or music. It's a good way to fill that unused time, to provide input through a sensory organ that isn't doing anything important in that moment. I've reached the age where I've started to joke about being old, even though I'm still relatively young. Still, with each passing year, time (especially free time not tied to obligations like work) starts feeling just a little bit more precious. I want to make the most of it, not let it go to waste. I've learned a lot about the world listening to podcasts on my lunch break, and discovered great music during my commute.
But every now and then, I leave the earphones out. I'll just listen to "nothing" while walking through the city or ironing clothes. Or rather, I listen to the ambient sounds around me. The rattle of the train as it is moving. Conversation fragments. The rush of the water as it fills the sink. The sound that the steam makes as it escapes from the holes at the bottom of the iron. Then, I also start paying closer attention to my body. My breathing, my posture, how I'm moving my body. Putting one foot in front of the other. Manipulating the cloth to remove a stray crease. Moments like these feel very meditative, and I want to say that they are a form of meditation. When hyper-focused on all these minutiae, there's no room left for worry or overthinking. I just exist, and that is enough.
Sometimes, these meditative experiences are triggered randomly. I've also found that this state of mind can be induced by watching slow, low-stakes movies or listening to certain types of music. Until now, I've been mostly just waiting for these moments to arrive naturally, but I think it could also be interesting to try and make time for them; go into them deliberately and turn this "conscious existing" into an active habit. I'm enjoying my podcasts and music, and I'll continue to listen to them. But I've also come to realise that I often use them to keep my mind occupied and running at all times, to constantly bombard it with input. Sometimes, it feels like an attempt to over-optimise life and max out the total amount of things I'm doing in any given moment. That can be tiring, even though it doesn't feel like it when all I do is putting the earphones in and pressing the play button. Sometimes, doing less is just better.