W hen we get used to something, we think we know it well and stop paying attention. Dr. Ellen Langer, the “mother of mindfulness,” argues that this tendency to be complacent makes us rigid and less creative, like a robot. To her, this is the state of “mindlessness” many of us fall into. She believes the problem is that we are not paying attention, that we are not noticing all the little things we experience and interact with. She wants to spark us to wake up, saying, “If you’re going to do something, why not be there while you’re doing it?” In a word, she wants us to reject mindlessness and instead to be mindful.

Mindfulness is noticing new things. Most of us think we know everything and we don’t pay attention any longer. When you’re mindless, you’re like a robot.

Dr. Langer recommends that we wake up and start noticing new things again. She offers day-to-day tips such as trying to notice 3 new things, as well as broader ideas like integrating our work and life, or not being afraid of making mistakes. In fact, according to her, trying things and making mistakes can create all sorts of exciting possibilities. We learned, for example, how the Post-it Note came from a type of glue that “failed” to adhere well enough for its original purpose.

You’ll hear her discuss how we can be more mindful, the role of art in a creative life, how we need to forget about the end result and love the process, and how our schools are the primary culprit in teaching us mindlessness. She aims to make us more aware of how complacency has crept in, and inspire us, instead, to seize the moment and be better at noticing the exciting and interesting things around us. This way, she argues, we can lead a richer, more creative life.