Poetry and Prose by #1 Amazon Bestselling Author of Nature Speaks of Love and Sorrow, Co-Author of #1 Amazon Bestseller, Wounds I Healed: The Poetry of Strong Women, and Jan/Feb 2022 Spillwords Press Author of the Month
heart beating fast, faster, and then faster, slowing down not an option, nor is the feeling in my gut, protracted, and put back together again, without much in the way of a knowing, as our beautiful sun keeps glowing
without protection, breeze blows me one way, and then another, reeling…
and, then, I’m feeling,
light and heavy all at the same time, is this a paradox in healing, or is there something else here, and I’m just not sensitive enough to know it’s presence within my heart’s beating?
breathing, a memory, a hint of something in store, stirs me from the floor, and all at once, I feel for
everyone, and everything we’ve called our home since time’s memory came into my very core
notice not coming, and, deep down, the shift in awareness creates contemplation once more
a sigh, a smile, and, the revelation creates continuity in being,
breathing the awareness in, I take all of life within, and seal this day with a silent prayer, and a heart filled to the brim
When I look inside, sometimes is found a diatribe, of ideas, which are moving and shaping experience without the knowledge of the receiver.
Egoic mind in motion, suffering extending roots from craving to attachment. Blinding light of awareness, are you afraid of the parallax light would perform?
Following these ideas from here to there is often pale, until that is, we get beyond the veil.
We often accessorize to people and ideas too comfortably with the gates to our heart unlocked with hope, the void of emptiness remains when the filled absence has dissolved.
We must then make headway, and, stay resolved, by being open to all that’s at our door, while we learn more about humanities very core.
Welcome others to be who they truly are, by mirroring and refracting off Self. Don’t force situations, solutions once submerged emerge, uncertainty is reality, delve into it.
Experience is a wise teacher, and can shed light on the ideas we struggle with, while we bundle close together, and pray for our very souls.
Detachment does not mean that you should own nothing, but that nothing should own you. Soaring above the high planes, be enrolled experience yet not of it.
Experience as the guide, please abide, and delight yourself in the fabric of reality within view, while ensconcing yourself in the mystery of all that is hidden within you.
The other day I was reflecting upon a conversation I had with a colleague of mine. We were talking about an upcoming leadership training, and ideas for iterating portions of the training. And, what, prey, do you think happened? Yes, I, rather we, went straight to the whiteboard.
I ended up drawing an x and y axis, and though it was, in that moment, unclear exactly what I was trying to convey, upon reflection, it became much more clear. Hence, this post about growing your awareness and attention by getting outside of your comfort zone.
We all have differing levels of attention and awareness. These levels also shift, dependent on our experience, which we will discuss more in a minute.
There are three basic levels of attention and the awareness; what we know we know, what we know we don’t know, and what we don’t know we don’t know. The last of which is also called a blind spot. We all have them. Phew. Still with me. Good.
Basically, it is those blind spots that we are addressing in this article. What we don’t know we don’t know. Because, in fact, the only way to understand what we don’t know we don’t know, is to have someone or something point to it.
Of course, we must be open to new experiences, learning, and paying attention. If we are, our awareness about ourselves as human beings will increase, and our blind spot, in this area at least, will decrease.
Experiences
When we choose to have the same experiences every day, sticking to our normal routine, or habits, we miss out on the opportunity to grow our attention and awareness. Why?
Because, when we stay in our normal routine, we don’t pay as close attention to our environments, as we do when we are in a new experience. Think about the last time you did something new. Did you pay closer attention to the experience? The sights, sounds, smells, or information you were receiving? Yep.
We pay more attention in a context that is new to us, because we don’t know what to expect, and, most likely, are a little unsure and hesitant. That is getting outside of our comfort zone. That feeling of unease.
Yet, when we get outside of our comfort zone, our capacity to pay attention increases, as does our awareness. And, when our attention and awareness increase by way of the new context we’ve exposed ourselves to, our attention and awareness increase in others as well.
Growth
As we grow our attention and awareness in new contexts, we discover new things about ourselves, and about the world. Of course, discovery is hard. We must be vulnerable, willing to take risks.
Humans have a tendency to stay inside of their comfort zones; inside of their habits, where they feel safe. However, inside of our comfort zone, discovery is not possible. Why? Because we know about these experiences. We’ve been doing them for, well, in some instances, all of our lives.
However, when we are open to new experiences, we get to discover, and we get to create new possibilities. As we learn and grow, we also get to create. It’s inside of this creative space, where new possibilities exist for our lives. It is quite beautiful.
Here is what growing your comfort zone, as we’ve discussed it here, looks like to me visually.
Corvallis, Oregon, 2021
As you can see in this simple diagram, the space in between our normal experiences, and new experiences, is where we can grow our attention and awareness.
Our attention to the new experience, which will spill over into all of our experiences, and our awareness of who we are as human beings. The latter also translates into understanding all human beings. It’s how it works.
Alright, that is a new way to think about growing our attention and awareness by getting outside of our comfort zone.
And, as my colleague would say and I’ve written before, the size of the step we take outside of our comfort zone is entirely up to us. And, once outside, we always get to return to our comfort zone.
The important thing to remember is that when we choose new experiences that challenge us, we are growing. And, well, growth is a beautiful thing to be a part of, and to watch.
Develop. Inspire. Transform. 