Quieter outside than inside

Quieter outside than inside

What could this picture possibly have to do with meditation, mediocre or otherwise?
Well, this is the view I have from my little nest, the comfy chair big enough that I can sink in to it with my legs folded up and meditation every morning, usually as the sun is just coming up.
And it’s the view I usually don’t see, because I meditate with my eyes closed, so I can concentrate better.  At least that’s the theory.
Lately, though, I’m experimenting with eyes wide open.  Closed, I don’t have the visual input to deal with and to distract, but it leaves my thoughts free to wander. Open, I’m picking a point is space to pull my focus back – the question is, with a view like this, which point?
And by the way, have you ever notice that if you stare at one thing for a long time, the edges just kind of dissolve, like maybe you really can see the atoms move around. Or do I need my eyes checked?
Focus

Focus

I’ve gotten up and down three times since I started to compose this post.  Isn’t meditation supposed to help me with focus?  Or maybe without it, I would have gotten up six times by now, scrolled a little, and washed my hair. I’m going with that theory.

There’s a lot competing for our attention these days, a lot of noise for even the most focused of us to contend with.  One of my favorite writers on the subject is Tim Wu, the author of “The Attention Merchants”, a long but engrossing account of the forces that are designed to make us look where they want us to look.  Add to that the many studies showing our attention spans are measurably decreasing.  So, really, isn’t it a triumph to just be able to sit still for a bit?  And maybe tomorrow a bit longer?