📅 Thought for today:
‘The primary cause of unhappiness is never the situation, but your thoughts about it. Be aware of the thoughts you are thinking.’
— Eckhart Tolle
#thoughtfortoday #holiday #castle #sunset #photography
I’m on holiday and have had a lot of opportunities for daydreaming (or mind-wandering as a cognitive scientist is more likely to call it).
At sunset yesterday I say alone, far up a Welsh valley on the ruins of a castle on a small rock mound.
It was peaceful and quiet except for birdsong. No human-made sounds at all, and a lovely cool sunset.
I was experimenting with a range of lenses on a new camera body and was very happy in my solitude.
I heard my left brain say to me “you should get back” and stopped to question this.
“Shoulding” is a cognitive distortion, where we make statements about how things should be, or what should happen, which are not actually true or supported by the evidence in front of us.
I laughed at the “should”, stayed a while longer, took a few more photographs, and realised that this is a really good sign – I am able to notice and let go of the distortion.
“Should” you be interested, the castle is called Castell y Bere in Llanfihangel-y-pennant and was built in 1221.
