Mid-December 2023 Newsletter

Hello, and a magnificent delicious Mid-December to you!
Welcome, or welcome back, to my newsletter. Today's issue is about distractions and focus. Enjoy!

This time of year, with all the extra tasks stemming from the holiday frenzy of preparation, gifts, decorating, baking, and parties, it can be easy to let our normal routine get disrupted. "I'll work out tomorrow" we think, then tomorrow turns into next week, then to January. My mind frequently goes to the different aspects of vision and how to optimize these, with focus a major component of healthy sight. We need to be able to move our visual attention easily and smoothly, yet also to keep it on something important despite any demanding interruptions.

Some distractions are easier to ignore, like spam emails which we can just delete or block. I have a harder time shutting out intrusive sounds, like nearby construction with loud banging, or whining or shrieking power tools. However if I need more silence so I can concentrate, I'll use earplugs. For visual distractions, it takes discernment, deciding whether that interesting sight is worthy of my attention, and for how long. The squirrel on my lawn gets a glance and a smile, then I return to my task, without losing my train of thought.

Being able to focus on a particular task allows us to accomplish it in a reasonable amount of time. Being able to focus on what we're seeing long enough to digest the information, scanning over the details to flesh out our mental image of the scene, is essential to our visual understanding. Focus is clearly necessary, yet we can focus obsessively, grabbing fiercely onto the task before us, refusing to allow anything to take our attention from it. Or we can focus in a gentler way, easily noticing what needs to be done, then just taking that next required step.

Vision is just like this. We can peer and squint, straining to see when we're tired, or in dim lighting, or when we're already upset about something and we want to scream in frustration at having to do this visual task too. When we're in a rush, it may seem contradictory, but often what we need to do to allow more consistent progress is to slow down. Otherwise we're getting in our own way. When I rush, I usually make mistakes, then need to redo part of the task to correct them, which means it takes me longer. Like in the fable of the tortoise and the hare, slow and steady is usually the best way to proceed.

Relaxed easy focusing is highly preferable to peering and squinting, straining our eyes and mind to grab at the elusive details of the scene before us. I used to do this. Then once I got a somewhat coherent image in my mind, I'd disconnect from the environment with relief and examine the scene I'd captured, like looking at a still photograph when the dynamic living view in front of me was constantly changing. No wonder I was often startled, or thought folks were sneaking up on me -- I wasn't looking!

Is there somewhere you're blurring out the input, not wanting to see the details too clearly, or hear them too distinctly? Yes, life can be painful or overly intense at times, and it's easy to become overwhelmed. I've found that taking the input in small doses often makes it more digestible. Proceeding slowly will still allow us to make progress, which won't happen if we stand still. Another trick I use when I'm feeling like a task is too much is to switch my focus to something easier but also productive, like doing the laundry instead of writing another email. I'm only wasting time if what I'm doing is something unnecessary. When the eye chart feels too challenging, I'll do some palming, to rest my eyes and mind, to tend to my precious eyesight in a different way.

To read more about the relationship between attention and vision, click here.

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Please send me your questions and comments
Let me know what you've wondered about concerning energy medicine or vision or dreams. I'll be glad to write a short article addressing that topic. Thank you to those who have sent me questions, or see a question you asked me in a private session written about here. You're helping many other people! Enjoy the remainder of this delectable month of December, and of this very special year of 2023. I'll write again in a few weeks. Take care!