-
May I Have Your Attention Please
I’m bein’ followed by a moon shadow. –Cat Stevens When was the last time you stared at the moon? Or listened to the chatter of the birds? Or the wind in the trees? What about noticing the pattern made by cracks in the sidewalk? Or the coolness of the cotton pillow beneath your head? These details of the present moment add richness to our lives. They surround us constantly…weaving in and out of our consciousness. A description of life from 30,000 feet doesn’t hold a candle to a gritty account of the details that engage all our senses. Even in response to a simple How was your day? But being here now isn’t easy in a world that is…
-
The Sky in the Morning
It’s been said that we see what we look for. And, it’s true. For example, when you decide you want a new Jeep, it seems that only Wranglers and Rubicons fill the roads… Another way to think of this adage is that we see what we attend to. Considering the degree to which our thoughts inform our perceptions, becoming intentionally attentive is powerful. And yet, to be deeply attentive is not easy in a world of distraction. Giving our attention to one thing necessarily limits our ability to attend fully to another. Like the fallacy of multi-tasking, we simply cannot focus totally on two things at once. Even the way we talk about it, paying attention, reinforces the idea that being attentive comes…
