Focus and Attention
This morning my focus and attention is on “Focus and Attention”. I’ve just spent a large part of last night pondering the pragmatic and philosophical aspects of these 2 subjects and the other peripheral reactions and responses that are connected with them. It turned out that for me it was like building a skyscraper in my own mind. As soon as I thought about one thing then another connection appeared and added possibilities to take the building and its design in different directions.
What seemed so smooth and “epiphanistic” at 3.30 am seems to be all gone in a puff of smoke now at 6.45. I’m going to explore the thoughts and concepts anyway.
Being focused and putting your attention on something seems to me to be the underlying basis for connecting to and communicating with whatever it is that you are trying to achieve, creating, doing or interacting with.
I suppose every action I take throughout my life needs a greater or lesser degree of focus or attention except that sometimes I need to consciously focus or send my attention to whatever it may be as opposed to doing it on automatic.
For example, I can listen to a piece of music and focus on it. By consciously doing this I am able to explore the different layers, the technique, the instruments, the timing, my own response and reaction and as a result I will get more out of. On the other hand I can have music on and react to it subliminally yet it will still have an effect on the speed that I walk or the enthusiasm with which I approach whatever I am doing. This second way of interacting is still effective but maybe not as rewarding.
At some point in the night I did an experiment and focused my attention on my breathing, every now and again my attention would drift away to some thought and I gently sent it back to my breathing. Apart from this being a pleasant experience I believe that I finally became aware of what meditation might be all about. It is like exercising your body’s muscles. The growth and improvement comes from directing my attention back onto the inhalation and exhalation of my breath, not on the act of breathing. I feel that I understand what the concept of mindfulness is a lot clearer now.
Each morning over the past 18 months I have made a habit of spending the first part of my day writing something. As I practised this habit I have found that I can now become more focused and find a subject, concept or thought that I can direct my attention on and then expand on it through exploring different aspects of whatever it is. It has been incredibly mentally stimulating and in some ways I can compare it to heading off on an adventure (in my mind) each morning.
Another example of focus and attention for me is walking into a room full of people who are sitting silently, unaware of each other, looking at their phones or even with earphones on completely cut off from interacting or communicating with anyone else. All it takes is a conscious decision to focus on one person and direct their attention toward a subject that appeals to them and the potential is there to get the whole room putting down their phones and getting involved.
This does involve an underlying decision.
I am now going to attempt to explore how this could function on a societal level where one’s focus and attention is forced onto something which is either positive or negative. Our newspapers and general mainstream media are inclined to force the attention of their readers or viewers onto the more negative aspects of life. There’s nothing like a bit of terrorism or a nasty murder or car crash or a natural disaster where thousands have died. Or for that matter, a pandemic. The whole mood of a society can thus be influenced in a negative fashion consequently creating fear, compliance and anxiety.
So what happens if we focus on the positive side of things? When you think about it, there are so many uplifting activities going on that might even potentially inspire somebody or bring a tear of joy or make them laugh or even give our lives a sense of hope and inspiration.
Wouldn’t it be overall more humane to direct the focus of attention onto activities that are uplifting?
I was listening to one of Russell Brand’s wise but funny rants last night where he was talking about the mainstream media’s reaction to the well known and popular podcaster and comedian, Joe Rogan getting Corona Virus. He pointed out a couple of things. Firstly the media seemed pleased that Joe Rogan got Covid in the first place and almost seemed upset that he didn’t get really, really sick, they also made a point of reporting that he was taking “horse paste” as a dodgy medication.
What they didn’t do was give an accurate rundown of the exact time, place, form and event which was that he did come down with Covid but he had a protocol in place that he had already researched so that he was prepared for if and when it happened.
And that by using this protocol he was able to return to good health in a couple of days and that the so called horse paste was really a re-purposed medicine called ivermectin which is on the World Health Organizations list of essential drugs plus that it’s creators won a Nobel Prize and that it has been used safely for billions of people over a 40 year period to cure parasitic infections that resulted in blindness in tens of thousands of people and that many countries are now using ivermectin successfully as a prophylactic and curative medicine against Covid 19, resulting in less potential hospitalization and death! Read this mainstream reaction.
Focus and attention.
How many people fell for this ploy?
On the other hand we are being told that we have an obligation to society to be vaccinated against Covid with a vaccine that is quite possibly effective but is also still feasibly dangerous as full and rigorous testing has not been done. We are being led to believe that it is the greatest good for society to take the vaccine to cut down the potential of passing this virus on to others. By the way, I do agree that we should take whatever precautions that we can within our own sphere of influence to protect others from the virus as I believe that there are many ways that one can do this that are not being discussed or put forth to consider. I won’t go into it here but there is a whole lot of scientific data that should be understood before making this decision.
If we are so concerned with supporting society does this not mean that we should all be taking a hit out of our own pockets and give our time to help supply food and shelter to homeless people, or to put 10% of our weekly income into a fund to help those who aren’t so well off? Or to support people who have chronic illnesses that are far more certain to kill them than Covid 19 is?
Focus and attention.
At the moment it seems that 90% of the focus and attention of our government, the mainstream media and big pharmaceutical companies is on creating fear and polarization. Why aren’t we seeing the good news that is coming from other countries efforts to use cheap re-purposed medicines and supplements to cut down the number of people being hospitalised and dying? Our media is focusing on our society returning to “normal”, to be able to go to the pub again, to go into Dan Murphys without a mask on. Our government seems to think it is more important to be viewed like a caring parent who will tell white lies to their children to pull them into line. Like old stories about the boogie man.
Why aren’t they focusing people’s attention on the benefits of losing weight, getting healthy and fit and the potential prophylactic, preventative and potentially curative medicines that are also accessible and don’t cost an arm and a leg. Wouldn’t this be another option and one that doesn’t put our children and their children into debt for generations to come.
Most people under 21 don’t know what the world was like before 9/11. They have no idea about the freedoms that were taken away from them in the name of protecting us from the illusion of mass terrorism. Something like what happened back at the beginning of this millennium as well as this current pandemic is a sliding door that will change the whole direction of our society and the hard earned freedoms that have been earned through blood, sweat and tears and our right to have a personal viewpoint that can be discussed openly without being censored by our peers and the big digital corporations. Read this interesting article.
My viewpoint is that we should be consciously focusing our attention on improving our understanding, compassion, tolerance toward each other. We should be looking how we could support each other and those in society who do not have the same opportunities as we do. We should be looking at how we can teach our children to be prepared to question governments and big powerful corporations who have pocket loads of money and power. We should be encouraging our friends and family to dig a bit deeper into the information that is now readily available at our fingertips.
I fear that if we keep going as we are we will end up with a “1984” type society that has forfeited its freedom, power, potential and individuality and that focuses its attention on complying and not rocking the boat, just to keep the peace.
I’ll finish off with a story about something that inspired me recently. My daughter and I were going for a walk through the city. We walked past an almost invisible homeless guy in his mid 20s, he was sitting outside a 7/11. She stopped and asked him if he needed something to eat. The smile on his face spoke a thousand words. His answer was “Yes, I would love a pie with BBQ sauce.” She then asked him if he would like a drink. “Yes, I would love an iced coffee.” She went in and purchased the food and drink and took it out to him and yes, he was very, very grateful. This act of kindness and the response of the homeless guy really opened my eyes to see what a simple act of kindness can do to simply improve the overall joy of life that is possible.
So maybe I should have called this focus, attention and empathy.
