This week I want you to focus on paying attention to the world around you.
Bringing the world around you into focus is the act of looking up, opening your ears, and looking around.
I’m out in the wild at a coffee shop as I write this. For the past 2.5 hours, I have had my head down buried in work listening to podcasts. So this is the perfect time for me to practice what I preach.
The first thing that I noticed was that by body was starting to get a little chilled from the coolness of the air conditioning. After pausing to stretch and push my shoulders back, I looked up and noticed the beautiful exposed wood ceiling of the floor above us. And finally, I realized how noisy the cafe had become and that the patrons had changed from when I got there and that it was much busier than the early morning as we quickly approached mid day. And sweetly and surprisingly, I noticed the music playing and the sounds of conversations mixing with the sphhhhhhh and clank noises from the coffee bar.
Paying attention to the world around me, made me feel connected and like I was part of the ecosystem of the city. Normally, I am in the quiet of my home only hearing the sounds of cats scratching where they shouldn’t to get my attention, lawnmowers, and the occasional beep! of a car locking. Its a very different and sometimes isolating environment to be in for days on end. Not to mention the stagnation of creativity.
By developing the practice of paying attention to the world around you, you get to become part of the ecosystem of the place weather natural or industrial. That is going to give you better insight into the layers of your mind and spark your creativity simply because you are paying attention to the constant change all around you.
By replacing keeping your head down in its various forms with looking up, opening your ears, and looking around, you are gaining a whole new ever changing world. All too often in our modern smart phone, tablet, laptop, smart watch, headphone wearing world, we are isolating ourselves into our bubble. This is a good thing when you need to knuckle down and not be distracted. BUT it is not good for the growth of our creativity, communication, and humanity.
Start by utilizing the technology that you are so attached to, and set an alarm with a reminder pay attention to the world around you. This is the easiest habit to build because you are relying on someone else to remind you to look up & tune in, A.K.A. your phone.
Level this up by using a trigger as a reminder to practice paying attention to the world around you.
This is a more difficult habit to build, especially because you have to remember what the trigger is and what you’re suppose to do in the first place. But there is a way to move forward. Try leaving yourself a sticky note that says “Pay Attention To The World Around You” and put that sticky note on something that you grab for multiple times a day. I like to put trigger notes on my coffee or tea mug, water bottle, and pen case of journal. This will give you the opportunity to develop paying attention to the world, and put it into practice. Each time you grab for whatever your trigger item or action is, take a moment to check in and practice this new habit.
In my personal experience I have found that it was really hard to peel myself away from my phone, youtube, and my computer. The difficult part was breaking the automatic subconscious habit of always reaching for my tech and being easier on myself to allow for me time, however small the moments, away from the need to always be working.
But the easy part was to replace these bad habits with a combination of analog & digital reminders. I now practice techless Sundays, I wear a watch that is not smart, and don’t google anything. The only way I am allowed to use my phone is for podcasts or audio books. Otherwise my phone is OFF, not sleeping, or silent, my phone is powered down and OFF. I also utilize technology on the other days with alarm reminders that have a ringer that is different from any other notification sound on my phone or computer. I really like using a Tibetan singing bowl sound for my reminders like this one to pay attention to the world around me.
Its all about balance.
things to remember…
- Look Up.
- Open Your Ears.
- Look Around, Move Your Head, Move Your Body.
Building new habits, especially paying attention to the world around you is not easy, but you have a choice and have taken the first step by clicking on this Weekly Spirituality tip.
By developing the practice of paying attention to the world around me, I have found that I feel more connected to the ecosystem of the place that I am in weather it is industrial or natural. By stopping the common practice of keeping my head down, and practicing this I feel less anxious and less lonely, even if I don’t happen to talk to anyone while I am consciously stopping and looking up from my tech to pay attention to the world around me.
