How do you focus your attention? Where do you put your awareness? What’s the difference and why is it so important?

Attention gets a lot of airtime in today’s world. You hear terms bandied about like “the attention economy“ as if it’s a commodity that can be bought and sold.

It’s treated as a finite resource. Like a zero-sum game, like there’s only so much to go around. It correlates closely with the precept that “time is money”.

The dynamics of present moment experience dictate that attention is singular. Masters of multitasking may disagree, but the very nature of focus is to be present with one thing at a time.

While the idea of attention reigns supreme, the quality of awareness gets short shrift. Where attention is finite, awareness can be abundant.

Attention is closely correlated with vision and your line of sight. Where your eyes focus is thought to be where your attention lands. When it comes to awareness, it’s your sense of hearing that often takes center stage.

Awareness is an amalgam. It’s the sum total of your sensory inputs, synthesized in your heart and mind to give you the total picture.

Awareness isn’t the same as dividing your attention. It’s about allowing the ambience to soak in from all directions. You’re focused on the thing or the action or the task or whatever it may be, while at the same time there are any number of elements at play in your immediate environment.

Awareness provides context. It synthesizes everything else in order to place your point of focus into the proper perspective.

In other words — you gotta mind your P’s while you watch your Q’s.

Teaching welding is where I started unpacking the difference. Since then I’ve noticed it showing up everywhere.

I tell my students “You have to pay attention to the arc, but keep your awareness on the puddle.” In welding, the arc is the spark of electrical contact, while the puddle refers to molten metal that freezes into the finished piece.

The parallels are everywhere, in life and on the floor. Keep your eyes on the road, but be aware of your blind spots. Pay attention to your movement. but be aware of the dancers around you.

Maybe mindfulness is the word we’re looking for? I’ll put my attention on that…

Have a great week, much love till next Monday!

Merci et à bientôt!

M+

ML #682

Mark Metz
Monday Love Movement Calendar