Exercise 8
Instructions 1
Go contemplate something in the Aristotelian sense. Observe it merely for the sake of observing it. Observe it in a way where you give your full attention to it.. Do not analyze it, or try to solve anything about it, or try to make sense of it. Do not actively think about it. Simply be there with it. You might find that your thoughts move away from it. Notice that, and then bring your attention back to the thing that you are trying to contemplate. Rest with it. Maybe it’s a bird, or a tree, or an emotion, or another person, or a building, or a sound. It can be anything that is present to you right here and right now. Do this for 5-10 minutes. No need to read the rest of this exercise until you do this part.
Instructions 2
Once you have finished the contemplative activity, try to describe it in maximally vivid detail. In particular, give a phenomenological report of it. Those are fancy words, but what I mean is something simple. I mean for you to describe what it was like for you to be doing the contemplative activity. What did it feel like? What was your mental space like? What is your relationship now to the object that you contemplated? Set a timer for 5 minutes, and explore your responses to these questions in writing.
Next allow yourself to wonder about the following statement: contemplation is the most valuable human activity. In particular, get yourself into the mood of feeling as if that really might be true. (In other words, entertain the idea that it really is true.) What would your life be like if you believed that? What would your life be like if you lived according to it? What would be different? How would it change your priorities? How would it change how you behave in conversation with others? Set a timer for 7 minutes, and explore your responses to these questions in writing.
I sat down outside near my house in the sun around 4pm. I looked at a few houses, an empty lot, and some mossy cobblestones near me. It was cool, there was a lovely breeze, and the sun made me feel very relaxed and tranquil. I didn't really think about anything new. I was just there, sitting outside, observing what was left of the day. I kind of felt part of my surroundings, like the way I was sitting there allowed me to be part of the landscape. I felt very 'ok' with my life. I kept my focus mostly on the moss. I thought about how it's a bit similar to me. We're both just chilling in the sun, glad that it's spring. It sounds kind of stupid, but I envied the moss. It can't really be distracted. Maybe you'd consider that to be trapped? I feel like it would be cool to just exist in the same way that the moss does. Maybe the moss looks down upon the rock it's growing on the same way I look down upon the moss. I don't know if I really have a relationship with what I contemplated, but I definitely felt a relationship with myself.
Instructions 3
I think it's very valuable. Most is questionable, but I'll contemplate it. If I really believed that, I would set time aside to contemplate things every day, maybe multiple times a day. I don't think I would do it all the time or make it the sole activity, but it would definitely take a more active role in my life, where I live, how I live. I think it would make me more relaxed, more grateful, and it would actually give me a break to rest. Most of the breaks I take in my life now are not really breaks, they're just distractions that are equally stimulating. I do contemplate things a fair amount, but if I thought contemplating was the most important thing in life, I would probably set out to do it for like an hour a day. I think I could pretty easily substitute 1 hour of other junk I do with contemplation without it affecting my function in society or whatever. There's definitely 1 hour of useless nonsense in my day. I could contemplate while walking or shitting or eating (I probably do, but not fully in the aristotelian sense). Overall it wouldn't take that much effort to make that happen in my life, and I think the benefits would be considerable. Taking time to process what people have said to me in that day, or who I want to talk to in the next, or why I'm happy would improve my mood.
