The viral video of an infant receiving a gentle hair wash beautifully exemplifies how early life is characterized by an absence of concerns beyond the present moment. Babies are fully immersed in their immediate sensations and experiences, unaffected by external judgments, future worries, or past events. Their emotions are immediate and deeply focused on the current moment.
Contrastingly, as adults, we spend years attempting to cultivate this same level of mindfulness and navigate through the mental clutter that fills our thoughts. We engage in meditation, seek therapy, and follow self-help experts. What if, however, we don’t need to learn this skill? What if it’s an inherent part of us, and we simply need to rediscover it? After all, we all once experienced these profoundly mindful states during infancy.
In the video, the baby appears entirely engrossed in her present experience. Every drop of water and each stroke of the brush is felt with every fiber of her being. Nothing exists for her beyond the current cleansing moment. Her purity captivates us, perhaps because it evokes a desire within many of us to embrace living in the moment once again
