Focus All Your Energy (On One Thing At a Time)
I won't take credit for such sound advice, those are actually lyrics from one of my favorite songs "Dynamite & Kerosene" by a band called Mergence (link to the song at the bottom of this post).
It's very easy to be doing an action, activity, job, anything really and be focused entirely on something else. Often times it feels I have been conditioned to not only allow my mind to wander, but the world around me is encouraging it (the mind) to wander endlessly through social media, or whatever it can grasp onto.
For example, when you are washing dishes are you thinking about how the water runs off the edge of the plate you are washing, taking into account the frequentness of your sponge movements, or are you thinking about that thing that happened at work today and actually re-experiencing some of the anger you felt earlier in the day?
The point is that our minds wander. A lot. But what if we could get it to a point where it didn't and we were truly focused on the task at hand? I don't claim to be able to do such thing, nor do I think there are many people in the world who can do that.
That's why I think I really enjoy drumming, cooking and a variety of fairly dangerous activities: cliff jumping, snowboarding, jet skiing, etc. The latter especially, are activities that require your 100% FULL ATTENTION or you could easily make one mistake and potentially seriously injure, or kill yourself. Drumming and cooking are not nearly as extreme, but the mind space required to properly do the activity is of the same nature. When you are drumming, if you don't want to totally fuck everything up and throw off the band, you must be fully focused on what you are playing and doing. When you are cooking, if you don't want to burn your hand, or cut off the tip of your finger, you damn well better be focused on every nuance of your movements, or else you'll have a nice scar, or be missing a part of your index finger.
In no way am I saying that there should be a hyper-focus in everything you do, rather recognizing you are in the moment doing something and giving it the proper awareness. I've found that this makes for a more pleasant day. No going down rabbit holes of over-thinking and re-experiencing old emotions, or attempting to plan my future or fix my past mistakes; simply present and aware of whatever I may be doing in that moment.
Now, if we were all able to do this then we would be Dalia Llama's and we'd live in magic fairy tale land. It will take me years to even get close to doing this for a full day and quite honestly I may never get there, but I will continue to try and focus all of my energy on one thing at a time in hopes that I can lead a more tranquil, focused and fulfilled life.
What do you find truly GRABS your focus? What kind of tasks to you enjoy doing that you need full 100% attention to do it properly? We'd love to hear your story.
With love,
RIVIR.
"Dynamite & Kerosene" - Mergence
It's very easy to be doing an action, activity, job, anything really and be focused entirely on something else. Often times it feels I have been conditioned to not only allow my mind to wander, but the world around me is encouraging it (the mind) to wander endlessly through social media, or whatever it can grasp onto.
For example, when you are washing dishes are you thinking about how the water runs off the edge of the plate you are washing, taking into account the frequentness of your sponge movements, or are you thinking about that thing that happened at work today and actually re-experiencing some of the anger you felt earlier in the day?
The point is that our minds wander. A lot. But what if we could get it to a point where it didn't and we were truly focused on the task at hand? I don't claim to be able to do such thing, nor do I think there are many people in the world who can do that.
In no way am I saying that there should be a hyper-focus in everything you do, rather recognizing you are in the moment doing something and giving it the proper awareness. I've found that this makes for a more pleasant day. No going down rabbit holes of over-thinking and re-experiencing old emotions, or attempting to plan my future or fix my past mistakes; simply present and aware of whatever I may be doing in that moment.
Now, if we were all able to do this then we would be Dalia Llama's and we'd live in magic fairy tale land. It will take me years to even get close to doing this for a full day and quite honestly I may never get there, but I will continue to try and focus all of my energy on one thing at a time in hopes that I can lead a more tranquil, focused and fulfilled life.
What do you find truly GRABS your focus? What kind of tasks to you enjoy doing that you need full 100% attention to do it properly? We'd love to hear your story.
With love,
RIVIR.
"Dynamite & Kerosene" - Mergence
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