I wonder if some of the difference is around the limitations I put on the possible places where beauty, truth, and goodness can be found. If I embrace the posture of waiting, I live as though I believe that beautiful things can be anywhere, and live with a faithful readiness. When I search, I begin in the unhelpful limitations of where I think anything good, beautiful, or true can be found, and perhaps miss what I would never had guessed held a treasure.
I wonder, too, if there is a slight difference in how I think of and hold what I find. There seems to me some significant difference between finding what I am looking for and finding what I never thought to look for.
Triggered by this article and earlier by JJ Miller's book review on how to focus, I am working on an article of my own. I suspect our "distracting" thoughts that insert themselves when we try to focus or attend are not dragging us away from what we should be thinking. They are instead suggesting other ideas that we have to somehow fit into our understanding of things. Our minds are designed to seek a unified theory of everything.
These thoughts helped me with a writing project this morning. As I sat down to work, I wanted to "go in search" of the right lines. I felt I needed to list questions and answer them one by one, to set up an airtight structure, to map out my exact path. But Weil's counsel to wait and set my heart upon the truth made me pull back from my first inclination. I waded into my draft listening and looking instead of carrying a sheaf of blueprints. I kept following the whispers and eventually the dolphin appeared! By "dolphin" I only mean the second draft. But you both were right. Thanks!
Wow, I've never thought about the difference between focus and attention. I'll have to start saying that "the internet is playing havoc with my focus span," instead.
For attention, I don't know if this counts for your question exactly, but I like to watch and re-watch animation that captures an observed gesture. Seeing it done well makes my brain happy, and something about my brain makes me watch it over and over to absorb the cadence and gesture of the sequence. Animation sometimes can capture something candid that film can't, because the animation is based off of the animators' observation, as opposed to an actor being filmed (which is awesome in its own way, but is contrived in a different way). In an animation I saw recently, a young kid steps into the sea's edge holding a bucket, and then lifts the bucket up to head height, eyes squeezed shut, as a wave crashes into him. Then he lowered the bucket as the wave receded, and splashed two steps forward, before lifting the bucket again as another wave came. I saw it, and felt something of what it is like to be a kid's height with a bucket that is about half my size, again. And also, to be a kid with a kid's determination. That animation called me to pay attention, and made me want to pay attention more in general.
Silence. Especially at dawn, or as close to it as I can get. While cupping a warm mug. Something about a fresh day and mind, eased into the day by a warm drink, makes beauty, truth and goodness easier notice.
I really enjoyed your post. Thank you for writing and sharing it!
I teach a "Poetry and Composition" class to a group of middle school students. In this class, we go through a process by which we first read a pair of thematically similar poems, and then enter into a state of free-writing. During this 5-minute period of free-writing, I invite the students to write what comes to mind as an effect of the poetry. This frees up the mind's eye to widen its scope of thought; to see what ideas may come to perch upon the ledge of the imagination. We then take what we have received during this unstructured time of recording our thoughts, and we then work toward structuring these ideas into formal paragraphs. Like prayer, taking a holy pause in the writing process better equips us to take inspired steps toward the embodiment of goodness, truth, and beauty.
This is powerful and has given me pause. I am marinating in the various paragraphs. Slowly. Thoughtfully. And with careful attention and openness. I will say of this one statement ;"We do not obtain the most precious gifts by going in search for them but by waiting for them." that I think we obtain them by both. "Searching" and "Waiting" in various measures has resulted in the best of things in my life. Wonderful article. I am sharing it with family and friends and will ruminate it for days.
Is attention akin to contemplation and reception, while focus is akin to meditation and activation? Adoring the flower's beauty versus pulling the weed? Looking along the shaft of light rather than at the spotlight's revelations?
As an adherent of Charlotte Mason’s philosophy of education, I think about the habit of attention frequently—especially in relation to covenant epistemology. Your article beautifully adds fodder to these thoughts!
Quoting Esther Lightcap Meek: covenant epistemology is an innovative, biblically compatible, holistic, embodied, life-shaping epistemological vision in which all knowing takes the shape of the interpersonal, covenantally shaped, relationship. Knowing is less about information and more about transformation; less about comprehension and more about being apprehended. Rather than knowing in order to love, we love in order to know. https://www.estherlightcapmeek.com/loving-to-know-l2k.html
If you have astigmatism, you wont see the dolphins❤️ i never saw the dolphins either:) a very interesting article which i intend to read a few times. Thanks
There are some powerful thoughts here, thank you for sharing some of Weil's words. After having two books published and finding myself tongue-tied coming up with elevator pitches/marketing copy, I've contemplated starting my next project at the end. If I just figured out that neat little sound bite first, it would be so much more efficient, so much easier to sell . . . and yet, these cautionary words resonate: "thought has seized upon some idea too hastily and being thus prematurely blocked, is not open to the truth." If I start at the end, I may never find the right way to get there. And so I pick up the notebook, begin the scribbling, and wait to see where the story leads me.
As soon as I finished reading this article I opened my Bible app. The first two verses I read seemed relevant. I wondered if the second verse could also have a broader metaphorical sense about paying attention.
Proverbs 20:12-13 NLT
[12] Ears to hear and eyes to see— both are gifts from the Lord. [13] If you love sleep, you will end in poverty. Keep your eyes open, and there will be plenty to eat!
In simplest terms, my best writing ideas have come when I was working on something else. The part of my brain given to following rabbit trails of distraction as well as task hums along. But in the background, divergent thinking is always running. When divergent thinking finds an interesting thought, I stop everything and sit before the idea, paying attention.
Love this distinction between focus and attention: "focus requires you to squint, but attention requires you to open your eyes wide."
Your podcast interview with Courtney was fantastic, and the book is a treasure. I got to know Courtney at the Festival of Faith and Writing, as she was the facilitator for two days of lunchtime discussions with a small group. Her enthusiasm for birds is contagious, but then, I was already an amateur birder.
I like to listen to audio books or podcasts on my daily walk, because I'm a compulsive multi-tasker and get bored easily. I've come to realize that I'm missing so much of the delight of the experience in nature because I'm dividing my focus. To let my mind go blank, to take in the auditory experience of the scene, is to fully pay attention. I've decided to save the audio book for household chores or the treadmill, and really pay attention on my outdoor walks.
After reading this, I came across a post by Aarik Danielsen in which he shared Diane Seuss's poem, Little Song. It struck me as very apropos to your post. Couldn't find the text easily online as it was shared as a photo, but thought I'd mention it either way as it is a beautiful poem.
I wonder if some of the difference is around the limitations I put on the possible places where beauty, truth, and goodness can be found. If I embrace the posture of waiting, I live as though I believe that beautiful things can be anywhere, and live with a faithful readiness. When I search, I begin in the unhelpful limitations of where I think anything good, beautiful, or true can be found, and perhaps miss what I would never had guessed held a treasure.
I wonder, too, if there is a slight difference in how I think of and hold what I find. There seems to me some significant difference between finding what I am looking for and finding what I never thought to look for.
Triggered by this article and earlier by JJ Miller's book review on how to focus, I am working on an article of my own. I suspect our "distracting" thoughts that insert themselves when we try to focus or attend are not dragging us away from what we should be thinking. They are instead suggesting other ideas that we have to somehow fit into our understanding of things. Our minds are designed to seek a unified theory of everything.
These thoughts helped me with a writing project this morning. As I sat down to work, I wanted to "go in search" of the right lines. I felt I needed to list questions and answer them one by one, to set up an airtight structure, to map out my exact path. But Weil's counsel to wait and set my heart upon the truth made me pull back from my first inclination. I waded into my draft listening and looking instead of carrying a sheaf of blueprints. I kept following the whispers and eventually the dolphin appeared! By "dolphin" I only mean the second draft. But you both were right. Thanks!
Wow, I've never thought about the difference between focus and attention. I'll have to start saying that "the internet is playing havoc with my focus span," instead.
For attention, I don't know if this counts for your question exactly, but I like to watch and re-watch animation that captures an observed gesture. Seeing it done well makes my brain happy, and something about my brain makes me watch it over and over to absorb the cadence and gesture of the sequence. Animation sometimes can capture something candid that film can't, because the animation is based off of the animators' observation, as opposed to an actor being filmed (which is awesome in its own way, but is contrived in a different way). In an animation I saw recently, a young kid steps into the sea's edge holding a bucket, and then lifts the bucket up to head height, eyes squeezed shut, as a wave crashes into him. Then he lowered the bucket as the wave receded, and splashed two steps forward, before lifting the bucket again as another wave came. I saw it, and felt something of what it is like to be a kid's height with a bucket that is about half my size, again. And also, to be a kid with a kid's determination. That animation called me to pay attention, and made me want to pay attention more in general.
Silence. Especially at dawn, or as close to it as I can get. While cupping a warm mug. Something about a fresh day and mind, eased into the day by a warm drink, makes beauty, truth and goodness easier notice.
I really enjoyed your post. Thank you for writing and sharing it!
I teach a "Poetry and Composition" class to a group of middle school students. In this class, we go through a process by which we first read a pair of thematically similar poems, and then enter into a state of free-writing. During this 5-minute period of free-writing, I invite the students to write what comes to mind as an effect of the poetry. This frees up the mind's eye to widen its scope of thought; to see what ideas may come to perch upon the ledge of the imagination. We then take what we have received during this unstructured time of recording our thoughts, and we then work toward structuring these ideas into formal paragraphs. Like prayer, taking a holy pause in the writing process better equips us to take inspired steps toward the embodiment of goodness, truth, and beauty.
Thank you for this bit of inspiration!
This is powerful and has given me pause. I am marinating in the various paragraphs. Slowly. Thoughtfully. And with careful attention and openness. I will say of this one statement ;"We do not obtain the most precious gifts by going in search for them but by waiting for them." that I think we obtain them by both. "Searching" and "Waiting" in various measures has resulted in the best of things in my life. Wonderful article. I am sharing it with family and friends and will ruminate it for days.
I like the marinating image:)
Is attention akin to contemplation and reception, while focus is akin to meditation and activation? Adoring the flower's beauty versus pulling the weed? Looking along the shaft of light rather than at the spotlight's revelations?
As an adherent of Charlotte Mason’s philosophy of education, I think about the habit of attention frequently—especially in relation to covenant epistemology. Your article beautifully adds fodder to these thoughts!
what is "covenant epistemology"?
Quoting Esther Lightcap Meek: covenant epistemology is an innovative, biblically compatible, holistic, embodied, life-shaping epistemological vision in which all knowing takes the shape of the interpersonal, covenantally shaped, relationship. Knowing is less about information and more about transformation; less about comprehension and more about being apprehended. Rather than knowing in order to love, we love in order to know. https://www.estherlightcapmeek.com/loving-to-know-l2k.html
If you have astigmatism, you wont see the dolphins❤️ i never saw the dolphins either:) a very interesting article which i intend to read a few times. Thanks
That explains it!
This is wonderful. Thank you.
There are some powerful thoughts here, thank you for sharing some of Weil's words. After having two books published and finding myself tongue-tied coming up with elevator pitches/marketing copy, I've contemplated starting my next project at the end. If I just figured out that neat little sound bite first, it would be so much more efficient, so much easier to sell . . . and yet, these cautionary words resonate: "thought has seized upon some idea too hastily and being thus prematurely blocked, is not open to the truth." If I start at the end, I may never find the right way to get there. And so I pick up the notebook, begin the scribbling, and wait to see where the story leads me.
As soon as I finished reading this article I opened my Bible app. The first two verses I read seemed relevant. I wondered if the second verse could also have a broader metaphorical sense about paying attention.
Proverbs 20:12-13 NLT
[12] Ears to hear and eyes to see— both are gifts from the Lord. [13] If you love sleep, you will end in poverty. Keep your eyes open, and there will be plenty to eat!
https://bible.com/bible/116/pro.20.12-13.NLT
In simplest terms, my best writing ideas have come when I was working on something else. The part of my brain given to following rabbit trails of distraction as well as task hums along. But in the background, divergent thinking is always running. When divergent thinking finds an interesting thought, I stop everything and sit before the idea, paying attention.
Jonathan,
Love this distinction between focus and attention: "focus requires you to squint, but attention requires you to open your eyes wide."
Your podcast interview with Courtney was fantastic, and the book is a treasure. I got to know Courtney at the Festival of Faith and Writing, as she was the facilitator for two days of lunchtime discussions with a small group. Her enthusiasm for birds is contagious, but then, I was already an amateur birder.
I like to listen to audio books or podcasts on my daily walk, because I'm a compulsive multi-tasker and get bored easily. I've come to realize that I'm missing so much of the delight of the experience in nature because I'm dividing my focus. To let my mind go blank, to take in the auditory experience of the scene, is to fully pay attention. I've decided to save the audio book for household chores or the treadmill, and really pay attention on my outdoor walks.
Aileen
After reading this, I came across a post by Aarik Danielsen in which he shared Diane Seuss's poem, Little Song. It struck me as very apropos to your post. Couldn't find the text easily online as it was shared as a photo, but thought I'd mention it either way as it is a beautiful poem.