Just give it a second

The basic like/dislike reactions that blandify our existences can be subdued through meditation and therapy, to some extent. But you can also often just… give it a second, and refuse your internal compass’ direction to go somewhere else immediately when you have a knee-jerk reaction to a thing or person. If you have a strong

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Here’s a refreshing, electric mode of attention that you can choose at any moment: notice every beginning—like, every new drum hit, or every new color that hits your eye when you scan a scene. Try to keep your attention hovering on that horizon where stimuli emerge from nonexistence. This is wonderful for music with a lot of abrupt changes. Better

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If you don’t have any vocabulary for a medium, then the film or song or dish simply appears as a blur of impressions, it’s hard to draw lines and isolate the particular areas and causes of enjoyment. So, having a better vocabulary for a given medium doesn’t just make you sound smart, it increases the resolution of your enthusiasm. If you’re the kin

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