Reality is More Fulfilling

There are many areas to explore when learning to quiet the mind. One of the core themes one finds among them is that they often revolve around sacrificing the moment. Whenever you engage in thought, the implicit assumption is that these thoughts are more worthy of attention than your surrounding. And to be fair, this is often true. If you’re thinking about how to solve a problem you genuinely care about, I would consider that a pretty good use of time. But that isn’t always the case.

The mind often engages in fantasy. It imagines pleasant scenarios not in order to strategize about creating them, but in order to enjoy the pleasure of the fantasy. I would argue this is a pretty poor use of the mind and largely a waste of one’s attention. It’s something akin to watching a movie, except the interest here is not in the plot but in your own ego. The pleasure does not come from depth or excellent storytelling or aesthetic elegance, but from picturing yourself as the main character.

In other words, fantasy is completely devoid of nutrition. It doesn’t nourish you in any meaningful way. And ultimately, when you arrive at a certain degree of detachment from your thoughts, it isn’t even very enjoyable anymore. It feels hollow. Reality is more fulfilling.