After writing about mindfulness I’ve got the hint that mindlessness is important too. What?! Oh, mindlessness, true. And after spending some brain computing cycles on that, I can only agree. Mindlessness can be translated into cheerfulness, gladness, laxity or nonchalance, unconcern, lightheartedness and spontaneity. All things which will enrich your life too. Without all these life would be boring, a lot. It would be same all day, lethargy alarm. Who would want that?

If you look up mindlessness you’ll get different meanings. There you could read lacking intelligence or good sense, or the word foolish. Having no intelligent purpose, meaning, or direction or giving or showing little attention or care and heedless. Sounds a bit negative somehow. So mindlessness is a bad thing? Don’t think so, if practiced in a positive way, means without harming or hurting others, without putting yours or others health and well-being on risk.

To be honest we all behave foolish at times and nobody is able to show attention and care all the time. So all of us have a built-in mindlessness. So far so good, but what is with intentional mindlessness. Well, here I think a few people do it more and others less. The more you are integrated into your everyday life, the less mindlessness can be seen. Everything is structured and has it’s place and time. This might be desirable in certain aspects, but kills creativity and spontaneity over time. Nah, that’s not what we want. So we need to break out of this structure at times. Which is not easy for a structured guy like me, believe me since I have ordered my books by size. But I need this mindlessness and I want it. So at times I am jumping on my bicycle and go for a ride into the forest, without any purpose, meaning, direction or goal. I just wanna go and exhaust myself in nature and free my mind. And know what, these are the moments I feel more inner peace and happiness. And on top comes, these are the moments I am having the best ideas. So mindlessness can generate happiness and creativity. Wow, sounds like brain Viagra. And indeed, all the adrenaline and hormones produced during a mindless bike ride or fooling around with close ones or just running through the sun have this effect … and I am talking about the effect of creativity and spontaneity within your brain and not the effect you are currently thinking of 😉

So I have to add something to the mindfulness advice. Try to keep mindfulness and mindlessness in balance and use it when appropriate. And yes, I just told you to behave like a kid at times. It’s fun, believe me.

Words like violence
Break the silence
Come crashing in
Into my little world
Painful to me
Pierce right through me
Can’t you understand
Oh my little girl

All I ever wanted
All I ever needed
Is here in my arms
Words are very unnecessary
They can only do harm

Vows are spoken
To be broken
Feelings are intense
Words are trivial
Pleasures remain
So does the pain
Words are meaningless
And forgettable

All I ever wanted
All I ever needed
Is here in my arms
Words are very unnecessary
They can only do harm

Enjoy the silence

This are the lyrics of one of my most favorite songs ever and these lyrics became much more important  within the last weeks and months. I would only exchange one word in the refrain:

All I ever wanted
All I ever needed
Is was here in my arms

At times people are realizing too late what they want and what they need. Sometimes this clearness and realization comes when the wanted entity is moving out of range. And then it’s too late. But mourning will not help here. Rather accepting the situation as it is and looking forward. Easily said, but hard to implement.

But that’s not my point now. Depeche Mode is a band which accompanied my life for so long now. I have experienced so many beautiful and so many sad moments when listening to these songs. Depeche Mode was played when I tried to explore the opposite gender many years back. Depeche Mode songs have been running when I recovered from rebuffs. These songs trigger so many memories.

There has been a Depeche Mode concert nearby recently and of course I went there. Huge stadium and I was one of 36000 people. Boah, what an atmosphere. And many of the old songs. But one special song went under my skin like no other, Enjoy the silence. Since this song represents quite good my current state, with the tiny refrain change stated above.

Anyway, the concert has been great, impressive. I have seen people from all ages in there. People who could be my parents and people which could have been my children. The complete range. Very interesting, but all of them singing and dancing together to the same songs. This has been very impressive since there are not many things which are able to unite young and old.

I closed my eyes to concentrate on the music of the song in subject and I tried to reactivate all the feelings which had been connected with it. There are so many, good ones and bad ones. But the lyrics pulled me back into the present quite often.

But there is another thing worth mentioning. Years back when I have seen Depeche Mode live first time, there have been thousands of lighters, an ocean of pocket lighters. But these days, only a few, not even a hand full. But what you see are thousands of smartphone displays taking movies of the live act. That’s kind of weird and very irritating. This is a change I didn’t expect.

Nonetheless the concert was great and I do love this song, Enjoy the silence.