On Savouring the Ordinary

From every direction we’re bombarded with beautiful pictures: people enjoying life in some unique, exclusive setting, looking impossibly happy. If it’s champagne, it’s with a view of the Eiffel Tower; if it’s a party, it’s on a yacht; if it’s a walk, it’s through Central Park. No argument — those are wonderful experiences, and ambition is a fine thing. But I’ve started to catch myself on a different thought: how good it is to savour the ordinary. The hormonal rush from those vivid images makes everyday life feel dull — yet isn’t everyday life most of what we actually live? Is it worth ignoring the simple daily joys while we drift off into dreams of pleasures that aren’t always guaranteed?

The usual commute to the office, a cup of coffee, a walk through the park or the city, watching a film at home with the people we love — these are moments available to everyone. The birds of spring sing the same for all of us.

Savouring the ordinary is a new level of awareness, and of quality of life.

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P.S. There’s a huge trend right now among the very wealthy — fighting “dopamine addiction.” People take on small ascetic vows, go off for a while to vipassana retreats, to monasteries, to remote and uninhabited places, to cleanse themselves of the constant hormonal glut of “the blessings of civilization” and feel happy unconditionally — without material or technological anchors.