Reflection
27 July 2026
Listen to my narration of this piece (4 min)
Reflection is - broadly - a good thing.
In school we would recite a homily at the end of every assembly. It started:
“This is the moment where we spend a few moments in quiet reflection […]”
It’s the first time I remember thinking about reflection; not that it every really led to very much contemplation in me or my peers, but the space was there.
It’s something that is difficult to get and make the time for in our modern world as an adult. So how do we preserve time for reflection or make time for reflection or induce reflection in ourselves? I think lots of people would say that you need to avoid stimulation. You need to avoid external factors. This is only partly true. I think that where we can become mistaken is when we correctly identify that artificial stimuli, bright screens, scrolling, social media, notifications are generally hindrances in this regard, but throw the baby out with the bathwater. These are all external stimuli that do dampen reflection, in my estimation, and make it less likely for you to reflect. But I think it’s a mistake to tar all stimulation with the same brush. My reflection is almost always triggered by external stimuli. Reflection, by definition almost, requires there to have been something that you experience that’s unusual or that triggers you to think more about something that you’re accustomed or normalised to. And this thing might make you feel differently. It might cause you to come to new conclusions. It might bring new insight. Stimulation, then, is not always bad.
So what stimulation is good? What should we seek out if we want to give ourselves more time to reflect? Well, I think that a useful coarse answer would be natural stimulus. When the stimulation is brought on by artificial means, it’s so powerful that it consumes our focus. I find that when I’m subject to natural stimuli - for example a sunset, or the stars, or a waterfall - I can’t help but think deeply about occurrences in my life and my place in the world. And in this sense, natural stimulation - that which is brought out by natural things, natural objects and natural phenomena - inspires us. It captures our imagination and yet leaves space for reflection in a way that our hyper-optimised, attention-hogging algorithmic digital world does not. When I am out in the natural world and viewing things that are besides me in the universe - not created by humanity, but sometimes created alongside humanity, sometimes created far before humanity, sometimes have very little to do with humanity - there’s so much room for awe and wonder. It leaves you questioning things. And I think that this questioning and this awe and this wonder are the variables that contribute to reflection. Reflection, to me, is considering questions that you have not considered before or considering the same questions but in a different way, with a new perspective. I’m not saying very much here. I guess all that I want to say is that in the digital world we leave no room for physical inspiration, only consumption. And by physical inspiration I mean that feeling when you witness something that is larger than yourself. That feeling of self-unimportance. That is the thing that triggers, in me at least, reflection.
So go outside and witness something - observe something - and reflect.