om, om--ugh

The New York Times has a provocative essay on mindfulness getting its share of attention, profiling a typical seminar entitled “Disconnect to Connect” that has drawn together many gurus and humble but respected practitioners trying to re-program patience, recalling a time that seems hopelessly inundated when people were content with waiting or engaging their immediate surroundings without being told by the Control Voice what to do. Ironically, many speakers introduce applications to remind people to be mindful and mediate, even if that's in the form of seeing out a television show without distraction. What do you think? Is this movement capitalising on a craze, shoe-horning a gimmick to sell? Many times technology and culture create divots and then invents something, at a premium, to smooth it over. Or are events like these genuine means towards circumspection? The answer is an important one.