Love as Attention

Trying to understand attention individually in an attention economy

Everything about the digital world clamors for my attention and - even knowing that is makes me unhappy - that call is very hard to resist. Even today, I wasted hours watching silly videos, all of which I had seen before.

Whenever I dedicate deep, sustained attention to something, I feel revitalized and at peace. The object of my attention could be a book, a person, or my own meditation, but the process is healing and the fruit of that attention is peace.

I see this in myself and others have more thoughtfully investigated. Fragmented attention seems to cause unhappiness and loneliness, as well as a more and more reductive view of the human.

When Lady Bird protests that she doesn’t love her hometown, she just pays attention, her guidance counselor asks, “Don’t you think maybe they are the same thing — love and attention?”

I believe that attention is an offering of love to the world, to reality, to a person. Offering that gift is essential to our happiness, yet is under attack.

BUT - What do I do with this conclusion? What does anyone do?

You can learn to practice this type of attention through a particular passion, education, or through some types of psychological or religious intervention. (I am thinking of mediation or prayer.)

This belief, which I consider central, doesn’t give me direction or purpose. It gives me an ethos, an aspirational ideal.

The ways to serve this belief could be to be a teacher of some kind, a counselor, or work at an organization that works in this field. Join the anti-technologists in a crusade that’s ultimately doomed.

In my imaginary life as an all-powerful diety, I snap my fingers and every person in the world is convinced of the life saving and affirming power of art and contemplation.

In a society that values technology, material goods, finance, efficiency, status, etc, how do you persuade others to change their values in a radical way? Or live my own values?

It is easy to choose security over purpose, fear of the unknown over courage, and zoning out over digging in. Especially with security, I find it hard not to choose the former.

I know I don’t have to be perfect while I sort these things out (even though it feels that way). But writing this post broke me out of a doom-watch cycle. Now I am going to exercise and then read a book.

And tomorrow, I will think about this again.