It is recommended that you listen to this song while reading the following article:
“Chasing The Present” by: Snorri Hallgrimsson
I want MORE
To whims-ify life is trending at the moment, but this pursuit of a wonder-filled life shows us the human heart shares such commonality.
We want something more.
What is the more we are looking for?
That depends where we decide to look for it…
The world’s economic system thrives off of our craving for more.
Constantly offering newer, nicer, better, bigger: things, things, things!
However, to be whimsey is to live a life marked by curiosity, delight, freedom, and awareness of beauty often unnoticed.
This kind of living does not require more things, but rather, more satisfaction with what one already has.
In order to experience your already whimsical life, you must be able to declare:
I have enough and this “enough” that I have is wonderful.
The Broad and Build Theory
The Science behind it
First, let’s get into the science of it.
The human brain was designed to protect us. When faced with uncertainty or scarcity (perceived or genuine) our attention narrows, begins scanning for danger, and searching for solutions.
Greater wealth, higher status, social approval, or material possessions seem to promise solution to any and all possible threat.
This belief keeps people in a perpetual state of striving, as though fulfillment always lies just beyond the next accomplishment or possession.
When the mind is preoccupied with what is lacking, it has little room to appreciate what is already present.
Contentment interrupts this cycle. It communicates to the mind that it is safe to rest.
You, right now, are safe to rest. There is nothing you need beyond this moment and a heart which confesses: It is well with my soul.
When freed from that constant pressure, your mental energy can now be redirected toward curiosity, wisdom, humor, and exploration.
“The Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.”
1 Corinthians 2:10
Psychologist Barbara Fredrickson’s Broaden-and-Build Theory suggests that positive emotions expand our patterns of thought and perception.
This better perspective transforms ordinary into extraordinary.
A content person is more likely to hear the knock of sunlight at the window dropping by to say, “good morning!”
A content person is more likely to find delight in the carefree imagination of a child, rather than an interruption to their “more important work.”
The world is bursting with miracles waiting to be noticed; contentment simply gives us the eyes to see them.
Our Hedonic Opponent
The psychology behind it
Humans are sick. Sick of heart. But there is a cure.
Research consistently shows humans adapt to new pleasures at a disturbing pace.
New car.
New phone.
Promotion.
It doesn’t take long at all before these nicer, newer, better things become…just…normal.
We gave this sickness a name: hedonic adaptation.
You’ve heard the term hedonistic. Implying gluttony, overindulgence, and pleasure seeking at all costs.
This is in fact, the culture in which we live and our opponent on the gameboard of modern living.
If happiness depends on obtaining the next “thing”, life becomes a losing game.
Gratitude is our winning move.
Contentment is the cure.
The Art of Whimsy
Jesus noticed what others ignored
Oh, to live a life never driven by hurry or anxiety!
Perhaps then we would notice the birds…
“Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them” (Matthew 6:26)
or the wildflowers on the highway…
“See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these” (Matthew 6:28–29).
or the poor like when Jesus noticed the widow and her offering,
“Calling His disciples to Himself, He said, “This poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others” (Mark 12:41–44; Luke 21:1–4).
Or the broken like when Jesus noticed a man who was desperate to see him,
“…he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.”
Jesus noticed when the woman who had secretly touched the edge of His cloak, even when the crowd pressed in on every side (Mark 5:25–34; Luke 8:43–48).
He noticed Nathanael before they had ever met (John 1:47–50).
He noticed children when the disciples considered them an interruption (Mark 10:13–16).
He noticed a blind beggar on his path(Mark 10:46–52).
After His resurrection, He paused to speak with Mary Magdalene in the garden, calling her by name before she even recognized Him (John 20:11–18)
These moments reveal Christ’s way of seeing the world and His heart as the embodiment of the Father
Ecclesiastical Type of Whimsy
Wisdom begets contentment
Few books of the Bible explore the human pursuit of fulfillment as honestly as Ecclesiastes.
The Teacher examines nearly every avenue people use to find meaning—
wealth, pleasure, success, wisdom, labor, and possessions—only to conclude that these pursuits are “meaningless” or “a chasing after the wind” (Ecclesiastes 1:14; 2:11).
Throughout the book, Solomon says that ordinary pleasures are the ultimate gifts from God.
“A person can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in their own toil. This too, I see, is from the hand of God”
Ecclesiastes 2:24
After reflecting on life’s uncertainties, he concludes,
“Go, eat your food with gladness, and drink your wine with a joyful heart… Enjoy life with your wife, whom you love, all the days of this meaningless life that God has given you under the sun”
Ecclesiastes 9:7–9
How quenching these words are and how much are souls need this drink!
The current trend to turn daily tasks into special pockets in time is the ultimate flashing sign that we are ready to choose contentment and be done with “chasing the wind”.
God has made his universe filled with wonder. Will we choose to notice? Will be be whimsy like Jesus was? If contentment is our position, most certainly we will.
As always,
stay happy.
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