Welcome to The Wildroot Parables weekly discussions! This is where we can come together as a community and have real talk with one another: open, honest, gracious, and curious.
This is YOUR space to discuss with each other, not just engage with me! Because of this, SAFE SHARING is my highest priority. If you are not engaging safely and with grace with others, you will have to leave. Period.
Thank you for entering this space with care!
On Monday, our devotional was all about the mystery, miracles, and mischief inherent in this springtime season, and how all that is required to notice them is our willing attention.
Today, let’s discuss: what kinds of surprises have you been noticing already this spring, whether external or internal? How do you cultivate willing attention in your daily life? And what kinds of forces do you personally have to fight against in cultivating that attention?
The opposite of "willing attention" is "willful distraction" in my opinion. Managing the attention economy is so important. You can REALLY realize how distracted you are if you try to meditate.
Our brains fill the space with so much noise. It takes a REAL EFFORT to silence that and focus on anything, much less on God, much less seeing God in everything around us.
Willing attention requires, in my mind, slowness. Allowing myself to have time, not worrying about my next appointment or task or anything. It's finding bluesky in a busy day and just allowing myself to exist in the moment. Then your senses really do get flooded by everything available to us. Which is beautiful!
I'm in a new rental this year; I've moved around a lot, but this is the first one with a yard. It's so fun to be surprised by everything blooming! Patches of ground that appeared bare and neglected had bulbs hidden, just waiting for the right time to show off. A dogwood in the back, and a forsythia, too. The other area of my life full of surprises is my new daughter. She's our first, so each new development is a surprise and delight and a wonder.
In order to fully appreciate her and where we are, I have to fight against busyness. Makes me think of a favorite lullaby, sung by The Hound + The Fox:
"The things to do, can stay undone
There's nothing left to do that compares to loving you
I'm going to answer the latter first which will help me answer the first questions. What kind of forces do you personally have to fight against in cultivating that attention: I have an anxiety disorder, and at times it can be pretty crippling and it takes me out of the moment and into the future (or past), and so it's a conscious battle to stay present and embodied in the here and now. That said, Spring has so many lovely surprises that I am more easily brought back to the moment -- for example, we have baby robins in our yard, and they are such a delight to watch, and the right kind of distraction to bring me out of anxiety and into the moment! The active birds, the flowers and wild native plants popping up in places I didn't plant, these all bring me back to the moment and help me cultivate willing attention in my daily life.
I have to echo what Scoot has said. There are times (all too infrequent) when I must force myself to move in what almost seems like slow motion, doing little things deliberately and attentively. In a blindingly rapid-fire world, willing attention (as Scoot has observed) indeed requires slowness. Yet I am too seldom willfully slow. This corrosive pace also affects our relationships. Makes me think of the lyrics to a song by Sarah Groves: "'Cause if you sit at home you're a loser. Couldn't you find anything better to do? Well, no, I couldn't think of one thing I would rather waste my time on than sitting here with you. And at the risk of wearing out my welcome, at the risk of self-discovery, I'll take every moment, and every minute that you give me."
I too am feeling delighted and surprised by the bloomings of nature. We are in a new landscape - arriving in the beginning of snow season and just now seeing the actual ground as it melts. So many plant friends are RIGHT HERE! And I had no idea. Yarrow, Mullein, Lavender, Rose, Comfrey - It feels like winks from God to receive familiar love with these friends. I love the phrasing of "willing attention"! Such a apt description that meets me in my understanding of primal sensory awareness and Wholeness Intelligence. Our sensory language that requires full presence and a receptive willingness. Mostly I find myself distracted by looping stories that I carry in my shadows - old patterns of thought that renew their relevance through a lens of maintenance. Nature always lures me back to the present moment - remembering the truth is now.
The opposite of "willing attention" is "willful distraction" in my opinion. Managing the attention economy is so important. You can REALLY realize how distracted you are if you try to meditate.
Our brains fill the space with so much noise. It takes a REAL EFFORT to silence that and focus on anything, much less on God, much less seeing God in everything around us.
Willing attention requires, in my mind, slowness. Allowing myself to have time, not worrying about my next appointment or task or anything. It's finding bluesky in a busy day and just allowing myself to exist in the moment. Then your senses really do get flooded by everything available to us. Which is beautiful!
It's just--work, also.
I'm in a new rental this year; I've moved around a lot, but this is the first one with a yard. It's so fun to be surprised by everything blooming! Patches of ground that appeared bare and neglected had bulbs hidden, just waiting for the right time to show off. A dogwood in the back, and a forsythia, too. The other area of my life full of surprises is my new daughter. She's our first, so each new development is a surprise and delight and a wonder.
In order to fully appreciate her and where we are, I have to fight against busyness. Makes me think of a favorite lullaby, sung by The Hound + The Fox:
"The things to do, can stay undone
There's nothing left to do that compares to loving you
It can wait, it can wait, for a little while
I'm going to answer the latter first which will help me answer the first questions. What kind of forces do you personally have to fight against in cultivating that attention: I have an anxiety disorder, and at times it can be pretty crippling and it takes me out of the moment and into the future (or past), and so it's a conscious battle to stay present and embodied in the here and now. That said, Spring has so many lovely surprises that I am more easily brought back to the moment -- for example, we have baby robins in our yard, and they are such a delight to watch, and the right kind of distraction to bring me out of anxiety and into the moment! The active birds, the flowers and wild native plants popping up in places I didn't plant, these all bring me back to the moment and help me cultivate willing attention in my daily life.
I have to echo what Scoot has said. There are times (all too infrequent) when I must force myself to move in what almost seems like slow motion, doing little things deliberately and attentively. In a blindingly rapid-fire world, willing attention (as Scoot has observed) indeed requires slowness. Yet I am too seldom willfully slow. This corrosive pace also affects our relationships. Makes me think of the lyrics to a song by Sarah Groves: "'Cause if you sit at home you're a loser. Couldn't you find anything better to do? Well, no, I couldn't think of one thing I would rather waste my time on than sitting here with you. And at the risk of wearing out my welcome, at the risk of self-discovery, I'll take every moment, and every minute that you give me."
I too am feeling delighted and surprised by the bloomings of nature. We are in a new landscape - arriving in the beginning of snow season and just now seeing the actual ground as it melts. So many plant friends are RIGHT HERE! And I had no idea. Yarrow, Mullein, Lavender, Rose, Comfrey - It feels like winks from God to receive familiar love with these friends. I love the phrasing of "willing attention"! Such a apt description that meets me in my understanding of primal sensory awareness and Wholeness Intelligence. Our sensory language that requires full presence and a receptive willingness. Mostly I find myself distracted by looping stories that I carry in my shadows - old patterns of thought that renew their relevance through a lens of maintenance. Nature always lures me back to the present moment - remembering the truth is now.
What kinds of forces do you personally have to fight against in cultivating that attention?
Wow, that's easy!
You.
Well, you know, the Internet more generally. :-) You at the moment.