""Shoshin" means both beginner's mind and heart. It's often difficult to give up "expert" status at a later age. Comfort can keep us locked in old, unhelpful patterns."
"My co-host, Emily John Garcés, and I look for words that have no English equivalent, and shoshin was one of the treasures we uncovered. It combines shou (beginning) and shin (heart-mind), meaning that it isn't just about thinking like a beginner but also about feeling like one, keeping both head and heart soft, open, and willing."
"Lately, my biggest experiment in beginner's mind has been learning to edit my own podcast. I don't mean "sort of edit." I mean sitting with raw audio tracks, trying to remove coughs, re-balance voices, trim out the dead air where I forgot what I was saying, and stitch it all back together so it sounds like a real show. Every time I figure out one piece of software, another one pops up: exporting, mixing, noise reduction, "studio sound." The learning curve looks less like a hill and more like a sheer cliff face."
Shoshin means both beginner's mind and heart, combining shou (beginning) and shin (heart-mind). It calls for keeping head and heart soft, open, and willing, so feeling and thinking like a beginner. Learning new skills, such as detailed audio editing, produces awkwardness, fumbling, and a steep learning curve that can feel like a cliff face. Shoshin encourages staying in that discomfort rather than reverting to expert status or comfort. Comfort can lock people into old, unhelpful patterns, and giving up expert identity later in life proves difficult. Joanna, a 60-year-old autistic woman learning independent living, illustrates practical challenges and growth.
Read at Psychology Today
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