Experience everything more than once

I was immersed in the romantic scene of the movie.When in Rome, enjoy Central Park right in the middle of New York. Or in Korea, Taiwan, Thailand also have famous public places that are poetic but not too industrial; suitable for dating and enjoying like in the movies.
But right in Saigon where I live, it seems that public places only have a transit function; because typically people will choose cafes, restaurants or cinemas as dating places.

Human psychology tends to"take for granted"- taking for granted the familiar things in life around me. I suddenly realized that I had lost connection with my own space and living environment.

The Covid-19 pandemic has prevented people from traveling more, but that is also the time when I chose to travel right where I live, for the first time in more than 20 years. Discovering strange things right in the places close by, and understanding it better, from a different perspective.

I realized I had missed so much in the close by while unconsciously yearning for the beauty of a faraway place. I was always present in this place, but my soul was always wandering somewhere else.

Just like ourselves, sometimes we need to discover and “relearn” ourselves, because there are things we think and do unconsciously. According to Professor of Psychology Ellen Langer (Harvard University), any experience has layers to explore. Repeat that experience, or the experiences we consider normal, we will realize interesting things.

So when we reread a book we can realize new things, the same goes for walking in familiar places. Because it is the process of finding new information.(in the human brain)- in any repeated experience. That is the nature of mindfulness.

This post was written before social distancing. Sometimes it's time to calm down and be more calm.
We may not go far, but we choose to go deep.
We may not connect with the outside, but we choose to connect within.

Vo Khanh Duy