Ritual

Sometimes the steps required to do something become part of the experience; making tea or playing a record on your turntable instead of on your iPhone. The steps add to the satisfaction, make the event more of a personal experience than just doing. This can make a simple task personally therapeutic or cathartic — often allowing a simple task to remedy the stresses of the day.
via Doing things the hard way — The Northwind

My family often chides me -- calling me a snob -- for the way I obsess over how I make my coffee. I've never had a good way to explain the feeling I get from the four or five minutes I spend making coffee. Grinding the beans. Measuring and boiling the water in my kettle. Waiting for just the right temperature to pour the water and brew the coffee.

Yes, it takes more time than popping a pod into a machine. But I get to enjoy a few minutes of "in the moment" nothingness. It's worth it.

Does the human brain have an off switch?

A scientist at George Washington University may have found the location of the human brain's off switch in the claustrum.

When the team zapped the area with high frequency electrical impulses, the woman lost consciousness. She stopped reading and stared blankly into space, she didn't respond to auditory or visual commands and her breathing slowed. As soon as the stimulation stopped, she immediately regained consciousness with no memory of the event. The same thing happened every time the area was stimulated during two days of experiments. New Scientist