I have come to love the Box of Daily Experience, and oddly enough (but then again perhaps not), it was travel that helped me do that.
I lived in South Korea for almost 5 years and I admit that part of my reason for moving there was to seek some novelty and change. But while I was over there, and visiting surrounding areas, I discovered that anywhere can be boring. And I mean that in a strangely good way -- there was something comforting to me about seeing the families in South Korea participating in daily mundane activities just like people back in the US and doing those same mundane activities. It made me feel even more alive rather than disenchanted, for whatever reason. It was the "boring" things that happened in the Box of Daily Experience that I remember most and today, back in the US, I love my "Box" for the same beautiful reasons you described here.
I'm not sure how atypical my experience is and I absolutely agree with your argument that travel is no escape from our minds. But perhaps travel or relocating can be a "jump-start" for expanding our minds, if we allow it.
I love this essay and am happy to be reading it here on Substack!
Oh my goodness I completely resonate!! I do think travel often encourages us to confront what is going on within ourselves. It's interesting that we often go to new places expecting them to be vastly different but the more we adapt the more we realize how similar we all are! So crazy but I just commented on this post about eudaimonia vs. hedonism and then realized your publication is called The Eudaimoniac! I love that!
I love fortuitous coincidences like that! Yes, "eudaimonia" is the word, I feel, that I'd be looking for most of my help to better articulate what real happiness is. When it comes to travel and everything else.
Many times, I came back to this one on More To That. I moved countries many times and lived vastly different lives. Those journeys made me grow immensely. But the one within always felt the most important. Thank you, Lawrence!
This is such a cool post and your illustrations are amazing! There is so much substance to what you discuss here. I think it touches on hedonic adaptation and the search for surface-level happiness. The challenge with seeking that is that it is not sustainable. As I understand it, we typically adapt to a new lifestyle after about 1 month (at least this is true to my experience!) So the key is to seek eudaimonia, which is a deeper state of contentment that you can reach via mindset shifts and gratitude (as you state!). I am living in Japan right now for a short period and actually just published a post that is somewhat similar to this topic (also bringing in how technology deepens the struggle). No pressure at all but I would love to hear your insights on that if you have a free moment https://substack.com/@luckyonesout/note/p-190192247?r=6vtd3b&utm_source=notes-share-action&utm_medium=web. This was a great read!!
Phenomenal read. I’m thrilled you’re writing on Substack now.
Though, for this piece, I would suggest an alternate title, based on the last part of the post.
“Gratitude is the Cure for the Mind”
Thank you for reading!
I have come to love the Box of Daily Experience, and oddly enough (but then again perhaps not), it was travel that helped me do that.
I lived in South Korea for almost 5 years and I admit that part of my reason for moving there was to seek some novelty and change. But while I was over there, and visiting surrounding areas, I discovered that anywhere can be boring. And I mean that in a strangely good way -- there was something comforting to me about seeing the families in South Korea participating in daily mundane activities just like people back in the US and doing those same mundane activities. It made me feel even more alive rather than disenchanted, for whatever reason. It was the "boring" things that happened in the Box of Daily Experience that I remember most and today, back in the US, I love my "Box" for the same beautiful reasons you described here.
I'm not sure how atypical my experience is and I absolutely agree with your argument that travel is no escape from our minds. But perhaps travel or relocating can be a "jump-start" for expanding our minds, if we allow it.
I love this essay and am happy to be reading it here on Substack!
Oh my goodness I completely resonate!! I do think travel often encourages us to confront what is going on within ourselves. It's interesting that we often go to new places expecting them to be vastly different but the more we adapt the more we realize how similar we all are! So crazy but I just commented on this post about eudaimonia vs. hedonism and then realized your publication is called The Eudaimoniac! I love that!
I love fortuitous coincidences like that! Yes, "eudaimonia" is the word, I feel, that I'd be looking for most of my help to better articulate what real happiness is. When it comes to travel and everything else.
Many times, I came back to this one on More To That. I moved countries many times and lived vastly different lives. Those journeys made me grow immensely. But the one within always felt the most important. Thank you, Lawrence!
This is such a cool post and your illustrations are amazing! There is so much substance to what you discuss here. I think it touches on hedonic adaptation and the search for surface-level happiness. The challenge with seeking that is that it is not sustainable. As I understand it, we typically adapt to a new lifestyle after about 1 month (at least this is true to my experience!) So the key is to seek eudaimonia, which is a deeper state of contentment that you can reach via mindset shifts and gratitude (as you state!). I am living in Japan right now for a short period and actually just published a post that is somewhat similar to this topic (also bringing in how technology deepens the struggle). No pressure at all but I would love to hear your insights on that if you have a free moment https://substack.com/@luckyonesout/note/p-190192247?r=6vtd3b&utm_source=notes-share-action&utm_medium=web. This was a great read!!