The Receptivity Index

My Dad — a lifelong runner and marathoner — had a clever response to my musing on Saturday about the experience of walking instead of running for a week: “Enjoyed your piece today about the benefits of walking versus running. I think my receptivity index increases as I slow down.”

Receptivity index!

What other things bump us up on the receptivity index, I wonder?

For me:

Patient study of any kind, but especially of birds

Walking instead of running, in ways literal and not

Looking at a night sky and sensing suddenly that it is not just a local canopy but an endlessness

Spending time outdoors, full-stop

Having a good night sleep

Sticking to a morning routine

Sitting attentively with a small child

Clearing clutter

Writing my way into an answer

Actively pursuing sonder* by visiting with other people

Discovering new words

Playing a board game

Reminding myself how fast it all goes

Falling in love with a fictional character

Realizing that nothing will be the same in a year (in ways good and bad)

What about you? What bumps you up on the receptivity index?

Post-Scripts.

*Sonder is the realization that every other individual has a life as full and real as my own.

**It occurred to me that the receptivity index is a good earth-side companion phrase for “the overview effect” I also wrote about in last week’s drafts. The overview effect is a term coined by Frank White in 1987 after studying astronauts — “Common features of the experience for astronauts are a feeling of awe for the planet, a profound understanding of the interconnection of all life, and a renewed sense of responsibility for taking care of the environment.” Adjacent concepts: the Romantic sublime and a fabulous excerpt from a poem by theoretical physicist Richard Feynman:

“Stands at the sea,

wonders at wondering: I

a universe of atoms

an atom in the universe.”

+Gifts for our future selves.

+On re-making myself as a mother.