Rediscovering Joy Through Dis-ubituating

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Rediscovering joy involves appreciating the wonders of life by dis-ubituating oneself from the daily routine. By breaking away from familiarity and taking breaks, people can increase their happiness and sense of pleasure. The feeling of astonishment and gratitude for simple things like home, relationships, and food can be revived by distancing oneself to experience the 'sparkle' upon return. Pleasure stems from the incomplete and intermittent satisfaction of desires rather than from complete fulfillment, similar to the thrill of a song or a massage where withdrawing and returning enhances the experience.

Do you ever feel like your life has become a film loop of the familiar? Maybe you sympathize with the elegiac poet Logan Roy, who said, "Nothing tastes like it used to, does it? Nothing's the same as it was." What lit you up on Monday barely sparks your interest by the weekend. But don't worry, there's nothing wrong with you. You're just experiencing what scientists call habituation, a fancy word for a phenomenon we all face. And the good news is that there's something you can do about it, methods and tools you can use to disrupt familiar patterns, jostle your needle out of its well-worn groove, and refresh the way you see and connect with the people, places, and things in your life. This process is called dishabituation — or, if you prefer, re-sparkling — and neuroscientist Tali Sharot is on the show today to teach you how to do it.

Book: "Look Again: The Power of Noticing What Was Always There"

Guest: Tali Sharot

Host: Michael Kovnat

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