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Pay Attention
It stands to reason, that if someone doesn’t look like they are doing something, they aren’t, and can be spoken to at will. This is the reason for the current dearth of philosophers. That, and cute cat videos on the internet.
Without boredom, can there be true creativity? Without silence, deep thought? Where can there be true peace, away from the babble and annoyance and…
I’m writing with my tongue firmly in my cheek, of course. It’s just that sometimes I feel like my head is too full to shape a coherent essay. And that, of course, is both what I wanted to do, and the spark of what I’m currently writing. Sometimes, you have to just begin if you want to accomplish. Fuming over interruptions, or a dog on a path clearly marked ‘no pets’, is not going to achieve anything. Behold, my field of f*&ks, and it is barren. Learn to not give a damn, and suddenly you’ll be able to move forward without your self-chosen anchors that were holding you back.
I realize it’s not always easy to let things go. Let the stream flow around you and keep looking serene. I struggle with this all too often. It’s difficult not to be ragey when people drive like idiots… really. Who is handing out driver’s licenses and why don’t we have pop quizzes on the spot when the cop sees someone who obviously ran a ringer through the test in their place? But if I catch myself fussing mentally over the doofus who has decided to lock up the whole parking lot just because maybe she’ll be able to park one space closer to the door of the store? Even if I could give her a piece of my mind, I wouldn’t. I need it, and it won’t do her any good. Insufficient material there to be supplemented to functionality.
And with that, I was able to reach over, grab my water bottle, take a drink, and a few minutes later when she finally gave it up and moved, so the rest of us could get where we needed to be, I was already musing on what needs to go into the story I’m working on. That, is a useful mental endeavour. Far more so than wondering just how far down the backside of the bell curve people can slide, and still manage to live.
At home, while I’m trying to gather my thoughts and everyone wants to talk to me or get my attention, I try to remember that snapping will hurt and confuse my loved ones. All too soon, the house will be silent and I will have no pleasant distractions… So I set aside what I was trying to work on and give the only gift I truly can… my attention.
Pay attention to what really matters. It’s not the prickly things that jab us and get us riled up. No, it’s deeper than that, quieter, and sometimes I have to be reminded that there’s another level. One that needs my time given to it, to nurture and feed the love and bonds that exist on that plane where we’re held together. The ties that bind. Unwound, what becomes of us? We spin off into the void of loneliness, undone.
So I’ll listen, and lock eyes with these precious humans, instead of a screen or a page. The season of giving never truly ends. It just changes shape and submerges again beneath the surface of daily routines.
Comments
18 responses to “Pay Attention”
Obviously if somebody is reading a book/newspaper, they wouldn’t mind being interrupted. [Very Big Sarcastic Grin]
Indeed. Although in this case it probably looked more like staring vacantly into space.
Mea Culpa and I’m sorry.
Love, you reminded me to stop and think. Nothing to apologize for.
This is the reason for the current dearth of philosophers.
What dearth? :laughs: Sometimes it seems like EVERYBODY is a tin-can philosopher, and half of htem are just no good at it!
(…to be fair, some of the old ones weren’t awesome, either, just you couldn’t yao yao at them in the comboxes so they didn’t get shown as not able to hold up an argument.)
Well, I was being sarcastic… but yes. Only half? Seems like the percentage is higher on the ‘utter crap’ side!
:points at BobTRF: It’s possible to make arguments in support of utter nonsense, especially with bad assumptions!
That said, I really have had folks assure me that There Are No Philosophers Anymore.
Or Nobody Writes Classical Music (eyes Final Fantasy series’ orchestral works, and movie themes and such) or There Is No Art Today. (points at your own work)
There’s lots of stuff, to rhyme wiht your point– just gotta slow down and let yourself notice it, instead of being so wound up when you can’t do anything.
The folks claiming there are no more philosophers or no one writing classical music now need to shut down the computer, leave the phone in the bag, and look up. There are far more people being creative well beyond Tik Tok videos…
Heck, stay on the computer and open up pretty much ANY video game that doesn’t involve switching items on your phone– and wouldn’t even swear to THAT for the music side!
Also, fine art. Art the old way is dead (as an artist, I know this painfully) but there are amazing artists working and thriving on video games.
Well said, and hubby and I got a good laugh, and have some new inside jokes to tell each other when encountering Bell-sliders.
I used to get wound up about parking lot blockers, bad drivers, etc. It took realizing that I had soaked up those behaviors from my mother who always worried about other people and their actions and opinions. It’s taken a while, but I’ve finally gotten to a point where I (mostly) can let those things slide off my back. And it is a much calmer, more serene world for me now. I owe a lot of that to Mike who is, to use Dorothy’s term, my calmer half.
I don’t know that I worry about them and their actions – it’s more that I’m being self-centered. I don’t like having to avoid the dog poo right in the middle of the walking path, or worse, stepping in it and having to clean my shoes before I get back in the car. And I really didn’t want to spend those endless *coff* four minutes stuck in the parking lot while this one person felt the world should rearrange itself for her convenience. It’s a good reminder that the world doesn’t revolve around me!
:laughs:
I grew up with a mom who found a work-around in loudly identifying what other folks were doing wrong– and why it was wrong. Not for them to hear, but for us kids to hear, and fix.
I spend a LOT of time in the car explaining the differences between when I do something and when I’m complaining about someone else doing it– which also teaches the kids how to be better drivers, or at least recognize bad drivers/risk factors– and if there’s dog poo on the walk, I try to figure out if I have an old grocery sack to pick it up with, or at least move it with a stick. (Advantage: diaper bag of holding. I notice that there NEVER seems to be a bleepin’ stick around where folks walk their dogs and are Simply Too Important to pick up the mess.)
I do this as well, although now that the last kid is a teen, it embarrassed the heck out of him if I do it in public.
I was walking after work and had nothing. A spare doggie bag will join my edc. This path is clearly marked no pets, not even leashed, as it is a nature preserve and heavily used by birdwatchers.
:wry: I notice the folks who “don’t see” rover dropping a steaming one do tend to choose those places, yeah.
Reminds me, I need to repack my diaper bag, I ran out of old grocery bags.
And sometimes, when a Needy Person gently touches your leg or uncovers your face when you’re trying to go to sleep (“You’re not asleep, are you?”) because he needs to talk, what do you do? Well…you listen.
And you try to catch up on the sleep later. ((hugs))