Pay Attention to what You Pay Attention To

Photo Credit Denise Crane

By Denise Crane

I’ve written a bit about possibilities and about paradigm shifts. Experimenting with both these things takes some doing. Or being. It’s a lifetime’s work-in-progress for me. I constantly have to reorient my stance and ask myself “what are you paying attention to?” because, once I notice something, I begin to notice it everywhere. I must constantly remind myself to pay attention to what I pay attention to.

Am I doomscrolling, or looking for ways to be a positive presence in my family, workplaces, and community?

I came across this quote recently:
 

I wake up in the morning asking myself, what can I do today, how can I help the world today?
JULIA BUTTERFLY HILL

That’s how worldviews can shift. That’s how paradigms shift. That’s how possibilities can unfold. And we each choose it every day. We choose what we pay attention to. And if we don’t keep our minds and imaginations open, then we will, inevitably, pay attention to things that only confirm our existing ideas. It’s called confirmation bias, and it is a completely normal function of humans. For better or for worse.

If you are looking for conspiracies, you will find them.
If you are looking for the ways in which you can be offended, you will find them.
If you are looking for the things you perceive have been “taken” from you, you will find them.
AND,
If you are looking for goodness, you will find it.
If you are looking for everyday ways you can make a positive difference in the world, you will find them.
If you are looking for the humanity in all humans, you will find it.

My grandson loves lizards. We live in Texas, so we have a few of those around. They are a little harder to find when it is cold, but they can be found. Currently there is one at his house that has taken up sunbathing on the windowsill of their garage. There is a picture of it that we all have shared and can show him any time he likes. He checks the windowsill when they arrive home to see if the lizard is there. He doesn’t talk about lizards all that much, but he notices them. There have been times when I have walked past several and never seen them, but he does. And we all stop to see if it is the kind of lizard that is going to change color or not. Is it brown? Is it green? Is it little? Is it a mommy? (I have no clue how to determine that) Is it looking for bugs to eat or trying to get warm? How fast will it run if he tries to catch it? He pays attention to lizards.

It feels to me right now that this paying attention could take quite a bit more intentionality and fortitude in the midst of a raging pandemic and a transition of political leadership that is drawing conflict. That does not mean it isn’t possible. That doesn’t mean we cannot shift our own way of being in the world. What if we just pay attention to lizards? What if we pay attention to interconnectedness, grace, and kindness instead of winning, competing, and acquiring? What if we pay attention to what we have in common, rather than what we do not? What if we really pay attention to what we pay attention to, and choose to pay attention to grace and love?