In the world of mindful communication, there is a shorthand expression which I find both nerdy and useful: Listening, looping, and dipping. Looping refers to the empathic feedback between us, and dipping means checking into my inner experience in the moment. Listening, looping, and dipping describe the entire process of a mindful conversation. Notice that the process is not listening, looping, dipping, and checking the mirror to see how your hair looks. Who has a face-to-face conversation while also looking at themselves?? It would be unnatural and distracting, and exacerbate our culturally-perpetuated insecurities about appearance; but that’s exactly what everyone is experiencing now on Zoom and other video-conferencing apps. And that’s why “Hide self view,” the last option in the little blue drop-down menu, is my favorite Zoom feature. Click on hide self view and you won’t see yourself; you’ll only see the other people. I have such gratitude for the anonymous geeks who added this feature to Zoom. It’s a spiritual gift. It helps me be less self-conscious and more present. I’m on a campaign to convince everyone to use it.