Friday, December 24, 2010

Hyper Focus

For a good portion of the day, I've been reading this year's posts. I am writing an entry that will be titled What I Learned This Year. I've gleaned a great deal by reading those posts. That isn't the point.

Something else happened. For reasons unexplained I hit upon the idea of hyper focus. This is doing everything by being very aware of what you are doing, paying attention to each keystroke as I type, refusing to digress in word or thought as I do so. I watched a scene from a nameless movie this way. I think in watching that scene, I was more alive in that moment than I have been in a month. I know, I haven't experienced a movie or television show like that since I was a kid.

I have endeavored since this hyper focus idea struck me to remain utterly in the moment as I cooked, ate, cleaned, watched the movie. Feelings of loneliness do not occur nor do feelings on longing. I feel strong like a young man. Oddly, it hasn't been much mental work. I haven't had to bring my mind back. It seems very willing to stay there. My neck and skull muscles do tend to tighten. I am taking moments of focus to relax them.

I believe I have heard the term mindfulness to describe such things. The label doesn't matter. I believe this is a worthy experiment to continue and I shall.

4 comments:

Yvonne said...

I am glad to read your blog again. I think I saw this technique of hyper focus in Barden's INITIATION INTO HERMETICS. I could never finish those exercises but I am finding things out on my own.

Can't wait to read "what you have learned" this year.

PhoenixAngel said...

Your "hyper-focus" takes discipline to maintain. It's something that scientists, musicians, martial artists, dancers, professional athletes and the like, are trained to do within their field. For example, a musician in an orchestra has to concentrate on their finger positions, sound quality, the music theyre playing, rhythm, the musicians around them and the conductor, all at the same time. Hyperfocus is usually induced only after repetitions of the same activity, practice. Most normal children have a natural inclination for it because theyre not riddled with physiological, emotional and social issues that adults have collected over their lifetimes. They can be fully in the moment, no hang-ups. What children lack is the understanding of the situation they are experiencing. If we can combine the hyperfocus of our youth and the understanding of our age, we could make the human experience so much more fulfilling. Tho, like I have said before: Youth is wasted on the young.

Anonymous said...

As I was reading this entry the word "mindfulness" sprang to mind, which you mention at the end. I do 15 minutes of meditation each morning to help cultivate this ability, as well as improving my memory.

A couple of night ago I heard an interesting thought given in a speech. The speaker said that there were 48 ways to gain Wisdom, one of which was to listen with one's ear.

"Surely everyone listens with their ears?" the speaker asked. The he answered that most people listen with their minds and are planning their response before they have even finished listening to the other person.

This focus on mindfulness in listening to others is something that I plan to put in to practice this coming month.

Unknown said...

excellent post.

i was just talking about this to an atheist friend of mine and how am acquaintance was reading a book regarding this matter.