How re-minders shape our world
Remind.
Re-Mind.
These days, the word reminder is associated with chores and schedules. Asking Siri to remind you when it’s time to turn off the oven, or Alexa to remind you when you’re out of toilet paper. Suffice to say, the word has lost its sexiness. But I love this word, and I love thinking about what it really means.
To me, a “reminder” is not just something that provokes a memory. Rather, a re-minder is anything in the world that, when interacted with, transports you back into a familiar state of consciousness.
In my journey, what I’ve come to realize is that the spiritual path and road to happiness are paved by creating more intentional reminders in our life.
Let me offer an example. Consider the case of the increasingly popular practice of writing a gratitude journal. Research has shown that writing down 3 things you’re grateful for after waking up and before going to sleep can dramatically improve life satisfaction and reduce stress and depressive symptoms. The philosophy behind keeping a gratitude journal is extremely simple — by focusing on positive things at the beginning and end of your day, you are creating a mental habit to re-member things that spark a dose of gratitude.
Gratitude journals are a more recent example of the re-minder wisdom at play. Consider the case of my 4000-year old religion, Judaism. Recently, my cousin told me about an interesting discipline for Orthodox Jews — citing 100 brachot (blessings) every single day. These prayers range from blessing the water that washes your hands to blessing the vegetables you eat for dinner. There is even a blessing for after you finish peeing (how often are you grateful for your excretory system?). For each bracha, the idea is to bring full “Kavana”, or presence and awareness, to the miracle of God’s creation.
When I first heard about the 100 brachot, I was a little turned off. My snobby reaction was, “don’t you think that putting a number on prayers reduces the spiritual significance?”. It wasn’t until months later that I realized the genius simplicity of the discipline — by having adherents recite 100 daily prayers, the scripture ensured that there were at least 100 moments in the day where one could be re-minded, and humbled, of all the good things they have in their life. Essentially, these brachot serve as well-placed triggers into elevated states of consciousness.
Those that practice meditation are familiar with the importance of reminders. Meditation is done by creating an intention, and coming back to that intention whenever the mind wanders. That intention can be the breath, or gratitude, or mantras, or physical sensations, or any number of things. But at its core, meditation is the process of continuously re-minding yourself to return to intentionality. As the theory goes, if you meditate correctly, your life will become more saturated with intention, providing more frequent re-minders to align your actions with presence and purpose. When Oprah asked Zen Buddhist master Thich Nhat Hanh why he wears a robe, he peacefully replied, “We wear the robe because it happily reminds us that we are monks... to remind the wearer that they have committed themselves to high spiritual ideals — to master the Dharma, liberate oneself and show others the Way.”
The re-minder theory is simple. We go out into nature because it re-minds us to feel relaxed and connected. We eat delicious food because it re-minds us of how tasty life can be. While some re-minders are delightful and healthy, others can be destructive, like in the case of PTSD. One of the most substantial re-minders is music, which at its highest potential is a direct transportation to the transcendent space we all seek.
So then, with all this in mind, it seems to me that spiritual advancement is less about acquiring more wisdom, and more about re-minding oneself with greater frequency how wisdom-based principles can be applied. The person who can sit cross-legged for 6 hours and cite Deepak Chopra quotes is great, but I’m more interested in the person who can remind themselves to breathe a dose of gratitude and presence even while standing in line at the DMV.
And most of all, I’ve come to find that the most powerful reminder in the universe is ourselves. Other humans. Whether you realize it or not, your best friend is a re-minder for you — a portal into a certain way of being, thinking, and feeling. Maybe laughter, or a reminder of good times past. Your parents are a different portal, and your teachers another. Perhaps this is why we act differently around different groups of people. Even strangers can be re-minders of something, and this is why the sangha, or community, is one of the three spiritual principles that all practicing Buddhists are asked to take refuge in.
The journey towards wholeness is paved with the tiles of remembrance. Humans are energetic beings — walking songs of life. Your presence is an omnipresent invitation towards something for everyone around you. And the most beautiful part of all, is that you get to choose what that re-minder is.
Nate Macanian is a mindfulness meditation teacher from New York. His writing and recordings, featured on wellness websites and apps, including Calm, Simple Habit, and WAVE Meditation, have introduced simple and accessible mindfulnesss practices to tens of thousands of people across the globe.
