{"id":1710,"date":"2024-10-07T20:38:11","date_gmt":"2024-10-08T00:38:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.spiritmoxie.com\/conversation\/?p=1710"},"modified":"2024-10-07T18:38:37","modified_gmt":"2024-10-07T22:38:37","slug":"pay-attention","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.spiritmoxie.com\/conversation\/pay-attention\/","title":{"rendered":"Pay Attention"},"content":{"rendered":"

Several years ago, I began a speech with the words, \u201cI am an ostrich.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Ostrich\"My friends know I seldom watch the news or pursue a newspaper, real or online. This is, perhaps, one way of not paying attention, although it feels more like emotional preservation. The world makes sure I know about any essential events.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But another way of not paying attention literally hit me a couple of weeks ago when I almost walked into a moving train. One had passed going right and it was only the whistle from another one coming from the right, and the gasp (and maybe a hand?) from the person behind me, that stopped me.<\/p>\n

Extreme examples? Maybe. But current events for most of us are at such a peak with such things as global conflict and the United States\u2019 (where this is being written) upcoming election that almost all \u201cwork with me\u201d or \u201cattend this\u201d invitations assume fear and overwhelm in people based on simply knowing and sharing reactions to what\u2019s going on.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"MAXSo where is the balance? How is one accountable and so not hit either physically or psychically and still able to avoid most fear and paranoia? How does one know what to pay attention to while remaining calm and grounded? And how do we do that?<\/p>\n

First, remember that what you continually focus on expands. We know some positives of this. Love of someone worth loving. Talking to plants helps them grow (really). Learning to listen to the needs and wants of your physical body contributes to health and wellbeing. But we get in trouble when we either obsess or delight in the negative. We obsess about wanting a better job or bills we\u2019re not sure how to pay. Or, we find someone with whom we disagree doing something incredibly stupid and delightedly share this information. And share it. And share it. With friends, on social media, and in conversations with our cats. These sorts of focusing give power to the negative.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Energy by its nature expands. Remember? So all these actions and thoughts, but maybe particularly the negative, gives power to things we don\u2019t want to give power to. What do we want to expand? Pay attention and focus on what gives joy and life. There\u2019s a perfect tomato in my kitchen. What\u2019s the best way for me to enjoy it? The cat wants extra time sleeping on my lap. Perhaps I, too, am called to be still. And, yes, you see positive news and share it. You take positive action by supporting a cause, listening to a friend, and loving your body. So look. Drown yourself in what\u2019s beautiful.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"PhilodendronIf you\u2019re having trouble finding the positive, take a minute right now and look around. What are you noticing? One of my most negative friends loves black. If he were here, he could appreciate my black sweatshirt and the \u201csexy\u201d black mic sock on the microphone by my computer. Breathe. Ah! You can breathe. There is that. Plus your heart is pumping quite independently. You can find the positive in that. It can be that small. If all you know is news, appreciate that you get it and stop there. If you\u2019re called to real action appreciate the opportunity and community. (Most of those bits are always in community.) If you love puzzles, make it a puzzle to find five things to notice and appreciate right now: Our potential lawn guy just lowered his estimate by $50. I got an invitation for dinner. I know where my phone is! This Conversation piece is almost finished. I\u2019ve heard that my friends who were in the path of Hurricane Helene are struggling, but basically OK.<\/p>\n

So breathe. Pay attention. What do you see? If it\u2019s negative, weed it out by knowing but not obsessing. Fertilize the positive. Spread energy accordingly.<\/p>\n

_____________________________
\nPhotos from the top:<\/p>\n

Ostrich – William Warby<\/a>
\n(Note: Ostriches burying their heads is a myth, but has become a metaphor for avoidance and they do lower their heads when scared,}
\nMAX train<\/a> – Spirit Moxie
\nPhilodendron growing nicely – Spirit Moxie<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Several years ago, I began a speech with the words, \u201cI am an ostrich.\u201d\u00a0 My friends know I seldom watch the news or pursue a newspaper, real or online. This is, perhaps, one way of not paying attention, although it … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2],"tags":[79,58],"class_list":["post-1710","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-main-conversation","tag-attention","tag-makingadifference"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6DJHl-rA","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spiritmoxie.com\/conversation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1710","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spiritmoxie.com\/conversation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spiritmoxie.com\/conversation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spiritmoxie.com\/conversation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spiritmoxie.com\/conversation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1710"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.spiritmoxie.com\/conversation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1710\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1722,"href":"https:\/\/www.spiritmoxie.com\/conversation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1710\/revisions\/1722"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spiritmoxie.com\/conversation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1710"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spiritmoxie.com\/conversation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1710"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spiritmoxie.com\/conversation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1710"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}