Traditionally — and still today — the term “luxury” tends to conjure up very specific associations with luxuries in most people’s minds.
Clearly, everyone knows what a luxury car such as a Rolls Royce is, and how it differs from more conventional and run-of-the-mill automobiles. By the same token, a Michelin Star restaurant experience is undoubtedly more luxurious than getting take away from a high street chain.
Nonetheless, in the modern world there are certain unexpected forms of “luxury” that few would immediately notice or name off the top of their head — but which are increasingly becoming the preserve of a relatively select few.
If you’re interested in having the deepest, richest, and most thriving experience of life you possibly can, here are some unexpected luxuries to be mindful of in the modern world.
The luxury of privacy
Savvy businesses will often go to great lengths to bring on board the services of a skilled privacy consultant with a good track record. Clearly, the primary reasons for this will have to do with the ever-growing threat of cyberattack and corporate espionage.
Few businesses — especially customer service businesses — are likely to do very well, or to stay operating for very long, if their customers’ data is totally compromised.
At the same time, though, revelations from intelligence industry and tech sector leaks in recent years have underscored just how much of a “luxury” privacy has become for the average citizen.
With companies such as Google and Facebook being implicated in massive data leaks and open breaches of user privacy, particularly alongside organisations such as the NSA, it’s safe to say that most of us are a lot more scrutinised than we might like.
But there’s a great deal of peace of mind that can come from knowing — or at least having good reason to believe — that you’re not being perpetually spied on.
Signing up for premium privacy-focused email services such as ProtonMail, and taking extra steps to ensure that you opt for devices and digital ecosystems that have a better privacy track record — such as Apple — can make a big difference in this regard.
The luxury of attention and focus
In a recent book entitled “Stolen Focus,” the critically acclaimed writer Johann Hari takes a look at some of the many ways in which our collective ability to focus and pay attention are under attack in the modern world.
Among other things, the rise of busy coworking spaces, the stress generated by lack of sufficient sleep and more tenuous financial circumstances, and the ubiquity of high-tech distractions, have all taken a toll.
It turns out that the ability to pay attention and focus may be on genuine luxuries in today’s world, as not only are these abilities increasingly rare and under attack, but they also appear to convey great benefits.
Individuals who are better able to pay attention and focus tend, according to various commentators, to be a lot more effective at the tasks they engage themselves in. The author and productivity-guru Cal Newport has even written a book arguing this point, entitled “Deep Work.”
People who are better able to focus and direct their attention as they choose are also less likely to feel overwhelmed in life, or to experience a lot of the negative emotional effects that come with a sense of inertia and indecision.
Safeguarding your attention and focus could involve investing in modern minimalist digital devices such as the reMarkable Tablet and LightPhone that are already branded as luxury items directions, or it could involve spending more time in a relatively serene setting.
The luxury of directing your own perceptions and goals
In recent years, certain writers and public figures have outlined an apparent dichotomy between being “goal-focused” and being “systems-focused” with regards to both work and personal life.
In essence, they argue, systems — such as daily routines and habits — are the right place to direct your energy as, unlike goals, they are consistently under your control.
Goals, according to this view, take you out of the present moment and generate excess stress and uncertainty.
While there’s certainly some wisdom to the idea that it’s beneficial to keep our attention focused mostly on the here-and-now, and on nurturing good habits, there’s a good counter argument to be made that discarding goals outright simply displays a lack of understanding of what goals are.
In everyday life, any time we do anything other than sit still in one place, we are acting in a goal-directed manner. When you are hungry you have a goal to get food — albeit a short-term goal. When your clothes are dirty, you have a goal to do your laundry. And so on.
With society becoming increasingly complex and intricate, shaping and directing your own goals — and training your own perceptions through things like cognitive exercises and creative visualisation — can be luxuries in its own right.
Treat yourself to the gift of being able to shape your own destiny, as opposed to being directed solely by the visions of others.
The luxury of silence and stillness
According to the famous Norwegian adventurer and explorer Erling Kagge — who, among other things, was the first man to walk solo to the South Pole — “Silence” is one of the greatest luxuries in the world.
Kagge describes discovering a great inner silence on his solo walk through Antarctica, in his book “Silence In The Age of Noise,” and insists that it’s vitally important for all of us to try and experience moments of silence in our own everyday lives.
Silence, he says, allows us to get in touch with the deepest parts of ourselves, and to have the richest and most uplifting experience of life as a whole.
Today, distraction and “noise” of all sorts abounds. Finding time to go for a stroll in the woods, or to relax at home in front of a fireplace, are certainly luxuries of sorts, for many of us.