Wake Up Your Mind with Sam Harris

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=es-yJoXEiXA

“Now I’m not saying that everything we do has to be profound in every moment. Sometimes you just have to find a font. But contemplating the brevity of life brings some perspective to how we use our attention—it’s not so much what we pay attention to, it’s the quality of attention, it how we feel while doing it. If you need to spend the next hour looking for a font, you might as well enjoy it.”

The Waking Up Podcast with Sam Harris engages my philosophy major brain and has nothing to do with running, which is exactly why I like it. I’m not that into every episode, and I don’t always agree with Sam’s takes—and I oftentimes feel like I’m getting in way over my head—but I always learn something or at least allow my mind to be opened to new ways of looking at things.

If you’re not familiar with Waking Up and want to start off on a fairly tame foot, I suggest checking out Episode 111 on The Science of Meditation or Episode 113 on The Consciousness of the Self. Episode 104, The Lessons of Death, is a thought-provoking discussion on how the awareness of death can actually improve your life and help you focus on what’s important.