At first glance, my focus could be summed up in 3 words… “I get distracted”.
Writing this post on Focus I’m discovering that I might be the most unfocused person on the planet! Well, that’s how it feels to me. I’ve managed to distract myself with countless things, some useful, some not, during the writing of these few words.
Putting the spotlight on Focus, has seemed to have caused it to come out like a 3-year-old who’s decided to put on a show of his worst behaviour, playing up to the captive audience of honoured dinner guests.
What getting distracted looks like!
While writing the last sentence, I heard a notification and was tempted to check! Resisting, another thought crossed my mind about an expected email I hadn’t received and with a flick of the fingers, an <alt tab> – the distraction mudra, I was in another world… at the crossroads of my Inbox, exposed to 101 trails with neon flashing headlines, tempting my exploration.
5 minutes later…
Bewildered. How did I end up here?!!
I followed a thought!
Plain and simple.
I often follow thoughts without any awareness or consideration. I simply don’t see them coming. Before I know it, I’ve jumped in feet first, swept away by the torrent.
One aspect of Focus seems to be about keeping my attention on something I’ve intended to place it upon. Perhaps there are two important words related to focus in that one sentence – Intention and Attention.
Intention – The direction in which I’m pointing. It contains an element of Will, a decision made.
Attention – To attend to something, by putting my awareness upon it.
Fine.
But maybe there is more to it than meets the eye. There is another facet of Focus which I want to shine a light on too!
What came prior to the Intention being formed?
What was it built on?
And how is focused released?
It seems that a thought arose. I noticed it. I followed it, adding a decision to it, creating Intention. So prior to Intention there was Inspiration.
Obviously, I don’t want to keep my focus on something forever. Imagine looking at your social media feed and never being able to drop that focus at some point. (And guess what, your feed is designed in such a way as to discourage you from doing that!) I need to be able to Release my focus, at which point the cycle starts again.
So, recapping, we have:
Inspiration —> Intention —> Attention —> Release
The Yin and Yang of Focus
It seems like Focus must embody different qualities. For it to be useful, Focus must be able to know what to focus on, be able to stay on the task to finish, and also know when it’s time to allow a change to something else. It must be on the one hand, single-pointed, defined, precise and exclusive… having a sort of yang aspect to it. And on the other hand, it must release, become open, receptive, undefined and inclusive, to allow for a global view and inspiration, a yin aspect.
An ideal Focus requires a use of the mind which is both narrow and wide open. A sort of dance between poles.
Getting distracted and meditation practice
This seems to very much relate to meditation practice, in which there are two main kinds of attention.
The first type is Focused Attention where attention is anchored on an object. When the mind wanders to somewhere else, it is gently brought back to this anchor point. Although not the aim of the practice, this kind of meditation could be very useful for training the muscle of keeping one’s attention where we’ve intended.
The second type of attention is an Open Awareness. Attention is open, allowing and including everything. All things are observed without judgement. Even attention can wander from object to object and be observed. You might think that is the complete antithesis of Focus, however from this empty undefined space, true clarity and definition can arise. This all-encompassing mountain-top vista can be particularly useful in generating the most fruitful things to focus on.
We usually think of Focus as having a direction towards something, a focusing on, but I think it is equally important to ask… what are we focusing from?
Perhaps the more you can rest in Open Awareness, the more focused your Attention can be when required.
Focus that becomes a happy marriage of the open-mindedness to know what to focus on and the single-mindedness to follow through.
The darker the dark, the brighter the bright!
So, learn to train your awareness to limit your susceptibility to getting distracted!
Photo by meo from Pexels
