How to rediscover the power of presence in a distracted world
Meditations on attention and beauty.
To listen is to lean in softly with the willingness to be changed by what we hear. — Mark Nepo
Hi fam,
This week, I’ve been obsessing over the concept of attention. Now that I have yours, if you are feeling stuck, or lost in any way. I’ve just put together a 90minute Tune into Nature workshop, for free. Online. Gain clarity, get inspired by nature, in community. Register here.
Ok, back to Attention.
The word attention comes from Latin, meaning “to stretch towards.” This is linked to “tender,” which got me thinking about how we approach attention in our lives and in our art.
Growing up, attention felt like something to dodge. It reminded me of authority and constraint. Plus, we talk about “attention” like it is a limited resource. I felt like I couldn’t afford to give or receive it.
But what if we flip the script? What if attention is actually about tending towards something with care and softness? When we truly pay attention, we’re nurturing the moment.
As a self-proclaimed ritualist, I’ve come to see rituals as acts of attention. They’re our way of carving out a reliable place in the world.
Byun-Chul Han says in his book “The Disappearance of Rituals” that rituals are “symbolic techniques of making oneself at home in the world. They transform being-in-the-world into being-at-home. They turn the world into a reliable place. They are to time what home is to space. They render time habitable.”
So beautiful.
Whether it’s your daily routines, watering the plants, or dancing like nobody is watching, there’s a tenderness in that devotion.
In Galapagos, I began to realize that because I was in deeply attentive states, hour after hour, watching animals and birds and landscapes I began to realize that my identity depended not upon any beliefs I had, inherited beliefs or manufactured beliefs, but my identity actually depended on how much attention I was paying to things that were other than myself — and that as you deepen this intentionality and this attention, you started to broaden and deepen your own sense of presence.
David Whyte — Conversational Nature of Reality
Mary Oliver hit the spot when she wrote: “Attention is the beginning of devotion.” and isn’t that what love is all about? Seeing someone fully, paying tender attention to their quirks and preferences. It’s in knowing exactly how they take their coffee or tea — a privilege earned through small, repeated acts of care.
Virginia Woolf expressed in a letter, “I love you, and I am conscious of you all the time.” So, to love is to see and to pay tender attention. Octavio Paz also beautifully states, “the heart is an eye,” and similarly, in photography Annie Leibovitz says that “the camera makes you forget you’re there. It’s not like you are hiding but you forget, you are just looking so much.”
When we create art, when we photograph, we’re pouring our attention into that one thing or being. We’re looking, feeling, devoting ourselves entirely to the subject. We are loving.
The same goes for our creative practice. The moment we care for it, we attend to it without any expectations, that’s when our practice becomes a ritual. Something inherently profound, elevated.
A way home.
Until next time.
Much love,
Lola
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