Nature writer Rachel Carson once said: “a child’s world is fresh and new and beautiful, full of wonder and excitement. It is our misfortune that for most of us that clear-eyed vision, that true instinct for what is beautiful and awe-inspiring, is dimmed and even lost before we reach adulthood. If I had influence with the good fairy who is supposed to preside over all children, I should ask that her gift to each child in the world be a sense of wonder so indestructible that it would last throughout life”.
Luckily you don’t need a good fairy to develop such an indestructible and everlasting sense of wonder or to rediscover the joy of experiencing something new – even with experiences and things you’re already familiar with. All it takes is looking at everything as if it’s the first time you’re seeing it and that’s exactly what a beginner’s mind is all about.
What is a beginner’s mind?
Beginner’s mind or “shoshin” as it’s called in Japanese martial arts and Zen Buddhism is described as "having an attitude of openness, eagerness and lack of preconceptions when studying a subject, even when studying at an advanced level – just as a beginner in that subject would."
In other words, having a beginner’s mind means you approach the world through beginner’s eyes: you look at everything as if it’s the first time you’re seeing it.
Why should I adopt a beginner’s mind?
The more time we spend on earth living our human lives, the more experiences, information and opinions we collect along the way. We tend to move through the world quickly, looking for the most effective path, not fully taking in each unique moment. This kind of behavior may help you to efficiently accomplish your tasks but the downside is that you miss out on a lot of important things like new perspectives and ideas or different ways of finding a solution to a problem.
With a beginner’s mind you’ll be more open to possibilities: a beginner doesn’t have any expectations, opinions, preconceived notions or past experiences to limit his view of a situation or to cloud his judgement. He makes no assumptions and doesn’t see a right or wrong way to approach a problem or situation. Beginners are also curious, open and eager to learn.
This means that when you adopt a beginner’s mind, you have access to a whole world of possibilities: there aren’t any existing expectations to limit your mindset about what could or should happen when you try something new – or even when you already know something or when you have lots of experience with a certain topic, problem or situation.
Other benefits of adopting a beginner’s mind include:
You approach a problem with more creativity and a fresher perspective
Bringing a fresh perspective to old situations helps you get unstuck
You gain a sense of playfulness and wonder about topics and situations that become stale over time
Your free yourself from expectations about future events based on past experiences because no two events can be exactly the same
It removes all the restrictions that may be hampering or biasing your viewpoint
It makes you more willing to experiment, to ask “why” and question the status quo
You learn to see others mindfully and free from views – and without views you listen more deeply and see more clearly
You develop deeper gratitude: if you no longer expect anything specific, every outcome is something to be grateful for
Making an effort to look at a situation with fresh eyes allows you to find new ways to solve problems and this makes your knowledge richer and multi-faceted
It helps you maintain enthusiasm and passion for what you do: there will always be more to learn
3 things you can do to cultivate a beginner's mind
There are several ways to recapture the sense of excitement, curiosity and wonder you experience when seeing, doing, trying or learning something new – even if it’s no longer new to you – but the three most powerful things you can do to cultivate a beginner’s mind are:
See things as they really are
Look at the world through the eyes of a child
Remove the word “should” from your vocabulary
SEE THINGS AS THEY REALLY ARE
Your mind can play tricks on you and stress you out by coming up with unnecessary old stories that attempt to give you reasons for why things happen. That way such stories can lead you to jump to conclusions that aren’t true. So instead of torturing yourself with these assumptions based on a past experience, see things are they really are – not as what your mind is telling you. For instance, question every assumption that pops into your head and look at it from several angles. You can also question why you made that assumption in the first place so that you can become better at catching yourself in the future
LOOK AT THE WORLD THROUGH THE EYES OF A CHILD
Children are a great source of inspiration when you want to adopt a beginner’s mind. They approach the world around them with wonder and amazement and they don’t hesitate to ask questions like “what is this?”, “why is it this way?” or “how does this work?”. When you do the same thing and ask yourself (or others around you) these questions, you’ll start learning more about topics and situations that you believed you were already an expert in.
REMOVE THE WORD ”SHOULD” FROM YOUR VOCABULARY
Saying something should happen a certain way ties you to the outcome. By removing the word “should” from your vocabulary you let go of the outcome and of your beliefs about what should happen or how something should be done.
©HolisticHappiness2024
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