Being present in your own life is the same as being fully
alive. It seems silly to even say
that. We all think that we are present
in our lives all of the time, at least during waking hours.
The truth is that we are mostly running on habit,
conditioned behavior. Or, we are
daydreaming, lost in memories of a past that does not exist or projecting
futures that also do not exist. While we
are busy doing these things, we are absent to the present moment which is the
only time that does exist. It is only in
this moment that we are alive. Most of
us spend most of our time not being alive and we don’t even notice.
What to do?
Control of attention is the key. If I can purposely pay attention to exactly
what my senses are reporting and to what emotions I am feeling, I am here,
now. It takes effort to do this. So, at first, it will seem like a lot of
trouble to stay present. My attention
may wander back into habitual tracks.
When I notice this, I’ll refocus my attention back in the moment. It’s a little tug-of-war that I play with
myself. It’s good to keep a sense of
humor about this. If I persist long
enough, I will notice something interesting.
I will begin to habitually focus my attention on the present.
What a weird idea!
Habitually being alive! I’ll
settle for that.
Nothing ever happens in the past and nothing ever happens in the future ,
ReplyDeleteso attention in the momentum of now is attention on something that is actually happening .
The momentum of Now contains lots of really cool information. My emotional responses for example. Attention in the Now allows me to notice when my emotions come from a source in the past and when they arise from a source in the future.
ReplyDeleteInformation from an emotional response , when ones attention is attached to the Momentum of Now, is more likely to be information from an aspect of ourselves that is fully connected to the infinite.
I think we are all able to distinguish between many different kinds of information expressed by the emotions. Emotions can be our consciousnesses expert way of compressing information that is larger than our conscious attention into a formmat that can be directly grasped BY that attention. Larger and Smaller ,in this case, is not a value judgement since both kinds of attention have equil value.
ReplyDeleteI think of emotions as a symbolic language.
ReplyDeleteSymbolic language is defined as a larger concept in a smaller mental space and is best comprehended in the momentum of now
No Wait!,,
ReplyDeleteMaybe symbolic Language is a language formed from symbolic Concepts.
It seems to me that all concepts are symbolic in that they are at least one remove from direct experience. They are ideas about experience that allow us to organize it in our minds.
DeleteI like your definition of symbolic language as "a larger concept in a smaller mental space". I read that to be a kind of shorthand notation or compacted version of a concept that can blossom to full size in the mind when attention is paid to it.
And, oh yes, your comment, "the attention you have is all the attention there is" is brilliant. I feel a deep "yes" about that.
(The Log has an infinite number of pages.)
ReplyDeleteI realize that I am referencing many kinds of information that are experienced as emotions. I feel that it is an important distinction to make. It helps me to avoid confusion and to more easily identify communication from progressively larger (and maybe smaller) aspects of my attention. To clearly identify the shape of ones emotional faculty does not mean that we are confining the emotions to that shape.
It just means there is more to discover.
One last thing.
ReplyDeleteThe Attention you have is all the attention there is.
One more. Last thing.
ReplyDeleteI just had the thought that attention that is NOT in the Momentum of Now influences the past and the future differently than attention that IS in the Momentum of Now.
The next question is what is that difference.
Maybe the NOW is so important we had to reach for solidity to grasp it.
ReplyDeleteMaybe solidity is the doorway to the Now.
maybee
Solidity is the genius creation of our brains. It allows us to be aware of many facets of now simultaneously, in real time, by representing patterned energy flows to us in graphic form. It is a printout of now, a chart that records volumes of data in a form that can be read by the tiny processor of the conscious mind.
DeleteBefore the field of iron time an interference ocean.
ReplyDeleteUntil I AM of consciousness set everything in motion.
BANG!
DeleteThat sounds accurate to me. I think you are saying that solidity is a kind of symbolic language created by attention and given a form appropriate to the abilities of the conscious mind to form a coherent whole,i.e. to hold the information in attention all at once.
ReplyDeleteYes.
DeleteIt seems that in order to hold the words in the sentences in the language of solidity in my attention all at once, my attention would have to be larger than my conscious attention alone.
ReplyDeleteThe purpose of symbolic language is to have a larger amount of information in a smaller mental space
ReplyDeleteYes, the shorthand, compacted, nature of the symbolic language of solid reality allows the conscious mind to cope with a simplified version, a cartoon, of an uncompacted reality that is far beyond its capacity to process. The raw data of the uncompacted universe is the province of the subconscious mind which has the means to cope with it.
DeleteMaybe one of the coping mechanisms IS the conscious attention.
DeleteOr maybee the subconscious attention is a coping mechanism of the conscious attention.
I didn't make the connection before about the multiplicity of symbolic languages.
ReplyDeleteIt seems so obvious now.
The long breaths are long and the short breaths are short.
The doorway to attention on everything at once is attention on one thing at a time
ReplyDeleteThe doorway to attention on one thing at a time is attention on everything at once.
ReplyDelete(The true meaning of yin-yang)
Attention on one thing at a time doesn't work very well without attention on everything at once. Attention on everything at once is ineffective without attention on one thing at a time. All of ones attentions attend all the time
ReplyDeleteYou have defined "Be Here Now".
DeleteI like this log but where is my ability to use pictures. I miss the pictures
ReplyDeleteAs far as I can tell, a blog is limited to words except for my ability to add images to my original posts. You could start your own blog and have the ability to add images to your posts.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteIt remains an open question to me, the nature of my conscious attention.
ReplyDelete(the subject of apocryphals too numerous to mention.)
In the circle of definition is it at the center or on the peripheral ?
When I read Carl Yung I always visualized the superconscious in the center of the diagram sorrounded by the unconscious which was sorrounded by the conscious mind. I am not sure if I apprehended the description correctly but recently I have visualized the conscious attention in the center ,(center of attention), sorrounded by a sphere of the unconscious sorrounded by a spherical field of the superconscious.
ReplyDeleteIs that what Jung really meant or am I confused.?
I don't remember what Jung said but I do like your visualization of a small circle of conscious attention in the center, surrounded by a large circle of the subconscious which fades into and is surrounded by a huge circle of the superconscious. Actually, I visualize these circles as translucent spheres enclosing the dense BB of conscious attention at the center. I've elaborated on this diagram by having the subconscious fade into the superconscious since I suspect that universal mind, which we are all plugged into, is the same as the subconscious. I suppose that Jung's diagram had a lot to do with supporting his psychological thinking. Coming from a more spiritual or existential direction, as I am, I like to see my conscious self embraced by the immensity of all-that-is.
DeleteBE THEN NOW
ReplyDeleteSome of the Language we use to talk about ourselves as beings that have attention is fairly useless.
ReplyDeleteUNCONSCIOUS or SUBCONSCIOUS for example, (used to differentiate our conscious attention from other attentions we might have), do nothing to describe those other attentions. They simply point out that anything not held in conscious attention is held somewhere else. We might as well just point a finger and say LOOK
OVER THERE.
I have an attention that is really good at examining one thing at a time in excruciating detail and another attention that is really good at connecting together all the one thing at a time information I collect.This attention forms a complete picture from all the parts.You could say that it is really good at attending to everything at once.
ReplyDelete