Is Mindfulness Becoming Just Another Buzzword?

Lessons we can learn from the bees

Photo by Simon Berger on Unsplash

Buzzwords like new normal, paradigm shift, think outside the box, alignment, or synergy are written or spoken so much they get lost in translation. They may sound good to the ear, but they become meaningless. They are like spam to our thoughts. Their origin and original meaning disappear. With over usage, it breaks the connection between the heart and the mind within its conveyance. We often no longer hear how much we use them — they are simply words, not communication tools.

Using buzzwords causes a lack of communication. Assumptions that everyone knows the meaning throw good ideas and creative thinking out. They create a haphazard gap of understanding. These buzzwords and phrases become marketing tools and strategies for sales and profit rather than good old thought-provoking conversation.

I see that happening with mindfulness, and that is so contradictory to its most accurate form. While science uses research and studies to prove the benefits of mindfulness, the original tools are not shared; just the word mindful and mindfulness are. That leaves too much open to interruption rather than action.

Yet, everywhere you turn these days, particularly in the Western world, you see the word mindful or mindfulness attached to some form of…