Friday, January 31, 2025

Today’s political environment has me constantly thinking about mindlessness vs. mindfulness.

My new book has arrived; it’s the 25th Anniversary Edition of Mindfulness by Ellen J. Langer. This book was first published in 1989 and is considered the classic work on mindfulness. My version is a 2014 revision with a new introduction by Langer.

She’s a Professor in Harvard’s Psychology Department and has studied Mindlessness and Mindfulness in everyday situations for forty years. Her learning is drawn from combinations of everyday situations and institutions, like nursing homes, schools, and businesses. She finds mindlessness both as pervasive and often unnoticed.

Langer has proposed and tested an alternative cognitive process, and it has proved relevant across multiple domains. Although referring to her process as “mindfulness,” she stresses not to confuse her concept with meditation. She draws her “mindfulness” from years of studying what she summarizes now as “mindfulness over matter.”

I will explore Langer’s work and concepts and also be seeking possible relevances to America’s new political leadership. I hope her work helps me gain understanding and optimism toward American leadership in the four years ahead.

Dear Friends: For any reason(s) one may have, this should be an excellent read. Diana