starting somewhere

We’ve all had moments when we felt the need to step back and take stock of what was going on around or inside us. For some, we do that too much. We become too self-critical and “figuring things out” becomes an excuse to avoid action.

For others, we do too little. We don’t make a habit of reflection, and our careers and our relationships suffer. Our team loves the above image because it evokes what a lot of us want in our lives:

• Peace

• Tranquility

• Being in nature

These days, who wouldn’t want a moment to quietly examine some breathtaking landscape that could put our lives and the world around us in some meaningful perspective?

This spirit of tranquility and clarity is important to our effectiveness and our well-being, but we also should remember that it can be cultivated. We can draw up this feeling on the crowded bus while we listen to an Audible book. We can settle ourselves in meditation, and we should. Because there’s a lot to take in.

So, no matter where you are and how unfavorable the conditions around you and inside of you may be, know that you can create Paying Attention energy in that chaotic moment. 

no time like now

This quote, attributed to Walker Evans, inspires me to Pay Attention:

“Stare, pry, listen, eavesdrop.

Die knowing something.

You are not here long.”

The Metropolitan Museum of Art Department of Photographs called Walker Evans “one of the most influential artists of the twentieth century.” They said, “his elegant, crystal-clear photographs… have inspired several generations of artists.”(1) It’s no surprise that an artist of this magnitude made a habit of Paying Attention. 

I’m always struck by his statement, “Die knowing something.” Walker Evans probably lived his whole life without ever learning the term VUCA: Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, and Ambiguity. Lucky him. Suffice to say, knowing ain’t what it used to be. 

We live in a world of a lot of confusion and distraction, and a lot of people are trying to sell us solutions to that. There’s something about Evans’ quote that cuts through all that noise.

Many of us are obsessed with learning. But what about knowing? What about building a solid foundation of understanding and belief? I believe Evans is talking about more than just cognitive knowing. I think he’s talking about something we call Full Self Knowing, a kind of clarity and peace that comes from making a habit of Paying Attention.

paying attention as practice

Quadrant P’s mantra of Pay Attention reminds us to bring our Full Selves to any time we are trying to cultivate understanding and growth in ourselves.

And, yes, Pay Attention can be a mantra.

When you feel yourself rushing to justify or protect your previous understandings, breath and keep repeating “Pay Attention, Pay Attention, Pay Attention.”

This isn’t to say you might not ultimately choose to maintain your original perspective. 

But we want to create that space to be present, to be conscious, to bring our Full Selves to the “Now” Moment.

All human freedom begins with Paying Attention:

“Human freedom involves our capacity to pause between stimulus and response and, in that pause, to choose the one response toward which we wish to throw our weight. The capacity to create ourselves, based upon this freedom, is inseparable from consciousness or self-awareness.” – Rollo May (2)

Habitually Paying Attention creates that space.

how paying attention fits into the play polarities™️

It’s important to remember that this is an I-Centered practice, even when the object of our attention is outside ourselves. It doesn’t matter that the object is other people—no matter how good your intentions—if the subject is still yourself.

And, of course, we’re Pulling Inward when we Pay Attention. No matter if we’re looking without or within to learn and grow, the vector of growth is to pull into ourselves.

When we practice, teach, or otherwise share our knowledge through action outside of ourselves, that’s when we’ll Lean Toward our scariest goals, which is our next quadrant.

Notes

1. For these quotes and more about Walker Evans: Walker Evans (1903–1975). (2004, October). Retrieved September 07, 2020, from https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/evan/hd_evan.htm

2. There is a similar quote widely attributed to Victor Frankl: “Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.” However, that doesn’t seem to be his quote: https://quoteinvestigator.com/2018/02/18/response/
   Here is the reference for Rollo May’s version:
   May, R. (1975). The courage to create. New York, NY: W. W. Norton & Company.