Love your writings, actually helpful, focusing on everyday problems that affects most of us, people think that they know all of this but it's also has to be spelled out loud, thank you for your work:)
Einstein once said, 'If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, then what are we to think of an empty desk?'
I used this quote frequently as I got my desk dumped over on Friday afternoons when I was in school. This was due to it being the biggest mess you'd ever see.
Now you're asking how does it relate to this article.
Attention vs. Distractions
-----
A messy desk is not genius but as I'd later learn, but lack of attention and lack of direction. It was also made me very unproductive.
The desk would have pencils, pens, paper, textbooks, all over the place. I spent valuable time searching for what I needed to do to complete my task. Class was 60 minutes long and I'd spend 15 minutes looking for my pencil to begin my writing assignment and another 5 for a blank sheet of paper. So 1/3 of class time was devoted to sifting through clutter to begin my task.
That's not genius, that's wasting time and creates a hurried state that is anything but focused attention. It would create forced mistakes and a sense of rushing through things to meet a requirement. The ultimate distraction is a messy or cluttered desk.
-
Fast forward to 2024, the new messy desk is a cell phone.
You can play music, type an email, play games, check social media, etc. Those replaced my cluttered desk items (pencil, paper, textbooks, etc)
Cell phones are the ultimate distraction. How often do you pick it up during the day if you see a pop up or pull your phone out of your pocket it you hear a noise or feel a vibration.
They are an adult's cluttered desk.
We consciously replace one distraction with another. This conscious behavior is our attention, the subconscious behaviors associated with the device are are a distraction.
“When we neglect our attention for even a short period, it tends to meander back to those undesirable mental corners.” The example of Cooper was so perfect!
"The soul is restored to health by silence. It is therefore necessary to train oneself to silence — and this is a labor that brings sweetness to the heart. It is through silence that a man reaches peace from unwanted thoughts."
These five concepts are essential to living a purposeful life. The Ortega y Gasset and Pascal quotes are brilliant, and your reflections are full of valuable insights. I will need to refer to this post often, whenever my mind and attention wander!
I recommend to you a book, on this topic of 'distraction,' titled The War of Art by Stephen Pressfield. In it, he describes the distraction/monkey-mind chatterings as 'Resistance,' and yes, it's written with a capital 'R.' It is the name of your Enemy. It aims to kill the person you can become by preventing you becoming it through distraction/monkey-mind chatter. Resistance is there, every day, from your waking moment until you lay your head down and sleep. You must defeat Resistance EVERY SINGLE DAY OF YOUR LIFE. His book is a standard among artists now. Please, give it a read. It's short and succinct and true.
I find when I write my fiction, if I can focus deeply enough on the Vision, immerse in it deeply but leave just enough of me to remember I have to operate a keyboard to pen it, the it becomes True and Resistance is slain.
Thank you for this reflection "To meditate my way through writing, I must filter out undesirable inner and outer distractions and maintain focus on the topic at hand. When my attention wanders, as it often does, I must diligently bring it back on track. In practice, this often entails re-reading the last paragraph or two to remember where I was going with my thought before proceeding with the next sentence." This reminded me to apply this to my own writing.
Your thoughts are very relatable. As you so aptly said, there is more than one way of meditating: awareness, quieting inner and outer stimuli, and our responsibility to ourselves as humans to be the best that we can be.
I enjoyed this exploration of attention. I did sitting meditation for years but finally switched to walking, which suits me better. But I really love the idea of writing as practice or any art that puts you into a flow state. I wish they'd study the brain activity of long-time creatives they way they studied Buddhists monks. I would love to know if there are similarities. I'd prefer to create art for hours over sesshin and it seems like the former is a more generous and energetic act. Anyway, you have my brain sparking! Thank you.
Karin, what a brilliant hypothesis! I’ll do some research to see if there’s any studies out there on creative brains. I’m sure there’s some correlation to that of monks - perhaps feelings of happy and peace, or maybe reduced anxiety and depression.
Thanks Jen for another thought provoking post. As I read, I was drawn into the tension between the conscious and the subconscious. Gratefully, much of our physical body does not need conscious effort to function. Yet, it seems that most of humanity has embraced the auto pilot model as a way of life. Life experience has become defined by the experiences and observation of our avatar rather than the deeper spiritual essence of our true selves. Taking responsibility for our attention or awareness, seems to me to be a call to awaken from the spell of our automatic life, and embrace a conscious awareness of our true selves and reality. Thank you!
I loved this piece, thank you. Part of me was thinking, ‘This quality of focus and attention sounds exhausting’. But then, ‘How restful to tune out the clamour and just be’.
Lovely message here. Our attention depends on what we focus on. Where we focus our attention expands. I also practice walking every evening to meditate and it helps me concentrate for a long period.
Remarkable thougths, ideas, quotes and everything else, this is actually the first one of your posts that I read. Still pretty shocked about those voluntary electric shocks of the experiment, didn’t expect to hear that. A lot people just consider meditation as an activity more or only oriented towards women, at least where I live, which sounds ridiculous. As absurd as that sounds is that a man is mostly defined by a man’s way of being, which falls under toxic masculinity. Just to give another example, using one’s left hand is not manly, that’s how foggy the mentality of a toxic man sounds like!! Just part of my daily living. Surely, with more men meditating, toxic masculinity would undoubtly lower the non-sensical attitude. Anyways, pardon my rant. Sounds like adventures are better spent with Cooper rather than with Sheldon Cooper (he’s a sore loser) that’s for sure!! Thanks for writing the way you do, Jen, your substack is amazing, I’ll keep checking it out. Your cursive signature adds a really nice touch to it!
Love your writings, actually helpful, focusing on everyday problems that affects most of us, people think that they know all of this but it's also has to be spelled out loud, thank you for your work:)
Thank you so much, Peter!
Einstein once said, 'If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, then what are we to think of an empty desk?'
I used this quote frequently as I got my desk dumped over on Friday afternoons when I was in school. This was due to it being the biggest mess you'd ever see.
Now you're asking how does it relate to this article.
Attention vs. Distractions
-----
A messy desk is not genius but as I'd later learn, but lack of attention and lack of direction. It was also made me very unproductive.
The desk would have pencils, pens, paper, textbooks, all over the place. I spent valuable time searching for what I needed to do to complete my task. Class was 60 minutes long and I'd spend 15 minutes looking for my pencil to begin my writing assignment and another 5 for a blank sheet of paper. So 1/3 of class time was devoted to sifting through clutter to begin my task.
That's not genius, that's wasting time and creates a hurried state that is anything but focused attention. It would create forced mistakes and a sense of rushing through things to meet a requirement. The ultimate distraction is a messy or cluttered desk.
-
Fast forward to 2024, the new messy desk is a cell phone.
You can play music, type an email, play games, check social media, etc. Those replaced my cluttered desk items (pencil, paper, textbooks, etc)
Cell phones are the ultimate distraction. How often do you pick it up during the day if you see a pop up or pull your phone out of your pocket it you hear a noise or feel a vibration.
They are an adult's cluttered desk.
We consciously replace one distraction with another. This conscious behavior is our attention, the subconscious behaviors associated with the device are are a distraction.
Wow. Totally agree with this. Never thought of a smartphone in this way.
And to think: the number of tabs open on the smartphone browser and apps all running concurrently. This is indeed the new messy desk.
The are also the 21st Century version of Huxley's Soma.
bsn
“When we neglect our attention for even a short period, it tends to meander back to those undesirable mental corners.” The example of Cooper was so perfect!
Great photo as well. There are few things in life that settle my soul like being around dogs being dogs.
bsn
They can teach us so much 🤗
Haha! Thank you! 😂
"The soul is restored to health by silence. It is therefore necessary to train oneself to silence — and this is a labor that brings sweetness to the heart. It is through silence that a man reaches peace from unwanted thoughts."
St. Isaac the Syrian
Love, love this 🩵
Silence fosters peace.
These five concepts are essential to living a purposeful life. The Ortega y Gasset and Pascal quotes are brilliant, and your reflections are full of valuable insights. I will need to refer to this post often, whenever my mind and attention wander!
The Pascal quote in one of my all time favorites as it has perfectly described me for about 30 years...
bsn
Thank you so much, Renato!
I recommend to you a book, on this topic of 'distraction,' titled The War of Art by Stephen Pressfield. In it, he describes the distraction/monkey-mind chatterings as 'Resistance,' and yes, it's written with a capital 'R.' It is the name of your Enemy. It aims to kill the person you can become by preventing you becoming it through distraction/monkey-mind chatter. Resistance is there, every day, from your waking moment until you lay your head down and sleep. You must defeat Resistance EVERY SINGLE DAY OF YOUR LIFE. His book is a standard among artists now. Please, give it a read. It's short and succinct and true.
I find when I write my fiction, if I can focus deeply enough on the Vision, immerse in it deeply but leave just enough of me to remember I have to operate a keyboard to pen it, the it becomes True and Resistance is slain.
DEATH TO RESISTANCE! LONG LIVE THE WRITERS!!
I love The War of Art! And his sequel Turning Pro 😏
I should definitely re-read it though. It’s been awhile.
Thank you so much for such a generous recommendation 🤗
I encouraged Jen to check out Pressfield's 'Writing Wednesdays' blog last week as well.
bsn
So grateful! 🙏
Thank you for this reflection "To meditate my way through writing, I must filter out undesirable inner and outer distractions and maintain focus on the topic at hand. When my attention wanders, as it often does, I must diligently bring it back on track. In practice, this often entails re-reading the last paragraph or two to remember where I was going with my thought before proceeding with the next sentence." This reminded me to apply this to my own writing.
🩵
Your thoughts are very relatable. As you so aptly said, there is more than one way of meditating: awareness, quieting inner and outer stimuli, and our responsibility to ourselves as humans to be the best that we can be.
🩶
I enjoyed this exploration of attention. I did sitting meditation for years but finally switched to walking, which suits me better. But I really love the idea of writing as practice or any art that puts you into a flow state. I wish they'd study the brain activity of long-time creatives they way they studied Buddhists monks. I would love to know if there are similarities. I'd prefer to create art for hours over sesshin and it seems like the former is a more generous and energetic act. Anyway, you have my brain sparking! Thank you.
Karin, what a brilliant hypothesis! I’ll do some research to see if there’s any studies out there on creative brains. I’m sure there’s some correlation to that of monks - perhaps feelings of happy and peace, or maybe reduced anxiety and depression.
If you find anything on this topic, let me know!
Thank you ! I'm writing a book about creativity as spritiual path so this will hopefully come across supporting research. I'll let ya know.
Amazing- I’m rooting for you! Rick Rubin’s book “The Creative Act” may be of benefit for you!
Thank you. It's a favorite of mine.
I'm pleased you have read them. I have most of Pressfield's books. Brilliant stuff.
Brilliant he is!
Thanks Jen for another thought provoking post. As I read, I was drawn into the tension between the conscious and the subconscious. Gratefully, much of our physical body does not need conscious effort to function. Yet, it seems that most of humanity has embraced the auto pilot model as a way of life. Life experience has become defined by the experiences and observation of our avatar rather than the deeper spiritual essence of our true selves. Taking responsibility for our attention or awareness, seems to me to be a call to awaken from the spell of our automatic life, and embrace a conscious awareness of our true selves and reality. Thank you!
Love how you added the dimensions of the conscience and subconscious.🩵
Thank you, Wayne!
Brilliant!
🩶
I loved this piece, thank you. Part of me was thinking, ‘This quality of focus and attention sounds exhausting’. But then, ‘How restful to tune out the clamour and just be’.
Absolutely! Perfectly put!
Lovely message here. Our attention depends on what we focus on. Where we focus our attention expands. I also practice walking every evening to meditate and it helps me concentrate for a long period.
🩵
I wonder if Ortega y Gasset was paraphrasing another philosopher, Epictetus: https://dailystoic.com/you-become-what-you-give-your-attention-to/
I wouldn’t be surprised if he was!
Remarkable thougths, ideas, quotes and everything else, this is actually the first one of your posts that I read. Still pretty shocked about those voluntary electric shocks of the experiment, didn’t expect to hear that. A lot people just consider meditation as an activity more or only oriented towards women, at least where I live, which sounds ridiculous. As absurd as that sounds is that a man is mostly defined by a man’s way of being, which falls under toxic masculinity. Just to give another example, using one’s left hand is not manly, that’s how foggy the mentality of a toxic man sounds like!! Just part of my daily living. Surely, with more men meditating, toxic masculinity would undoubtly lower the non-sensical attitude. Anyways, pardon my rant. Sounds like adventures are better spent with Cooper rather than with Sheldon Cooper (he’s a sore loser) that’s for sure!! Thanks for writing the way you do, Jen, your substack is amazing, I’ll keep checking it out. Your cursive signature adds a really nice touch to it!
Thank you, Rubén!
You’re welcome, Jen!