The occupational scientist Florence Clark (1997) noted that modern life in western societies is often at such a fast pace that we don’t have time or the energy to really take in what we do. She discusses the novel ‘Slowness’ by Milan Kundera which explores the:
secret bond between slowness and memory, between speed and forgetting
The activities and events we really want to remember we try to savour every moment, with our whole selves, and yet paradoxically they always appear to us to pass by far too quickly. On the other hand the things we really don’t want to remember, that we don’t enjoy or find uncomfortable, we try to speed through as quickly as we can, as if to put as much distance between the event and ourselves as possible, and yet, again paradoxically, our experience is often that time passes more slowly because our discomfort forces us to count every second.
The problem Clark highlights is that modern life often goes by at such a fast pace that everything gets rushed through, the things we should be appreciating, and the things we’d rather not. When that happens we don’t take the time to really appreciate and savour much at all of what we are doing (or often even remember it!). Ironically this can lead to people becoming bored or never feeling satisfied by their activities, not because they don’t have enough to do, but because they are flitting from one thing to another (often at the same time) and unable to really take in and appreciate what they are doing. In a classic study of boredom and occupation Martin, Sadlo and Stew (2012, p59) identified that:
boredom may not be the outcome of occupational deprivation alone. It may also be a result of the opposite, a surfeit of opportunity and choice, which could explain the apparent rise in its incidence…Simply being more active may not be the solution to boredom, as people need to fully attend to what they are doing in order to experience well-being
an ability to focus attention on the present moment, combined with interest, open acceptance, and compassion towards oneself and others (Kabat-Zinn 2005)
Mindfulness is a practice that encourages us to slow down and be present in the moment, and to accept and fully appreciate what we experience for its own sake, not trying to judge it or compare it to anything else. One of the founders of occupational therapy Adolf Meyer (1922) wrote about the importance of celebrating ‘the sacredness of the moment’. Mindfulness is not about changing what we do, doing new things or taking a break, it’s about how we experience what we do, how we appreciate it and feel more engaged in it, rather than doing everything mindlessly. Elliot (2011) notes that:
the challenge of mindfulness does not lie in seeking the escapes – holidays, vacations, or retreats – from the daily routines and realities. The challenge is to seek mindful engagement in the ordinary occupations of living. Mindful practice should not be reserved for a perfect time and place; rather it is practiced through the involvement in daily life activities such as having breakfast or taking a walk.
Through engaging in everyday occupations more slowly, more deliberately and mindfully, or by observing ourselves or others within them more mindfully, we come to appreciate small things, details, to appreciate the richness and sense of connectedness that engaging in occupation can bring.
We must remember that occupation is as much about being as it is about doing and that a balance between living in being mode and doing mode is essential for our health and well-being and for becoming and belonging as occupational beings.
There are some useful technique we can use to ‘tune in’ to what we are engaging in more fully:
Beginner’s mind – is about doing what we do already but as if it is new, so we can experience it with ‘fresh eyes’. This is a Zen habit (also called ‘Shoshin’) of living and being in the moment. It also means letting go of our assumptions of expertise even when we come to new things, so we don’t treat them as just (there’s that word again) another example of something old but as something fresh that we can treat as novel and exciting. There is great value in appreciating what we do (and what others do) from a position of humility.
Quietism – shut out all noise and distractions, all doing and business, quieten down your internal ‘clutter’ – just stop, breathe, listen, notice, tune in, be
1.Focus on a spot about two inches below your waist.2. Inhale deeply through your nose, filling your body with air. Exhale through your mouth.3.Stop all inner dialogue and devote all of your attention to your breathing.4.Repeat this procedure slowly, eight times.
Changing frame (or reframing) – this means doing something/looking at something from another frame of reference or angle. eg this could be physical like eating a meal in a different place at the table than usual, but could also be attitudinal, changing your attitude/disposition towards what you are doing. The philosopher Merleau Ponty once wrote that ‘the obstacle is not the mountain but my attitude towards the mountain’ – there may be things you have never tried or even avoid because you see them as obstacles that don’t seem so challenging from another angle. This may be a way of engaging in occupation more reflexively, identifying the barriers and assumptions that are getting in the way of or distorting your experience of this occupation and make a decision to ‘park’ them or challenge them (e.g are you seeing it as mundane or boring or just ‘not you’?)
Compassionate occupation – one way we can tend to miss what we are really doing is that we jump to the end all the time, our focus is on the end point, the goal, particularly when we are trying so hard to achieve something at a high level, but we can miss the stuff in between, the experience of doing for it’s own sake, the process or journey.. Compassion is a cornerstone of professional practice in health and social care, but how can we be compassionate towards others if we are not compassionate towards ourselves? I see compassionate occupation as being about a kind of occupational balance, there are times where we do need to do our best, but we need to balance that with not trying too hard all the time; appreciating more the process rather than the end result. Give yourselves a break. To appreciate the act of doing and being in the moment of doing is also about practising humility in one’s everyday occupations. As with all aspects of occupational engagement, balance is key.