The cure for lack of focus is absolute focus

Hello friend,

Let me begin with a happy side note: my study was not in vain and I have passed the National Ayurvedic Medical Association’s board exam at the AHC (Ayurvedic Health Counselor) level. This fact, or matters relevant to it, will come up again, but will they come up again today?

Being on the other side of admittedly obsessive study and focus, yet still finding myself anxious for more study, more knowledge, but also tired of study, really, really tired of study, and alienated from art and art making (by this I suppose I mean “writing”), and really very eager to no longer feel so, and also A) really very eager to tear our condo down to the studs and then build it back up, and B) missing my pure pursuit of fitness (of the mind) in the form of yoga asana, pranayama, I can’t jog or jump anymore but likewise, and C) eager to tear through closets and cabinets tossing out all joyless objects, D) eager to get through that deck of branding exercises and business-manifesting exercises, and E) there are 5 more relevant trainings on the absolute horizon, at least, F) those scattered stacks of books I haven’t been reading, G) scrolling lists seeking work space outside the home, for the increase of joy and efficiency and H) eager to disperse immediately the contents of a 10 x 10 storage unit, plus 6, 7, 8 other projects also on horizon, also on hold, and being thus in this place of I am overwhelmed by my lack of focus, I can barely lift an eyelid to any,

But this friend of mine, let’s call him B.C. (hi!), writer and poet, reports just now, on Facebook, on an encounter with a stranger who shared that he has a “pretty specific ADHD which causes him to become obsessive” and described a technique “in which you do a thing with extreme focus for 5 or 6 months but make yourself never look at any results” (this stranger wants to become the best golfer in the world and is applying the technique to this aim). This jives, absolutely and specifically, with a kind of project I’ve been trying to get myself on for the last maybe 6 months, (three years!) at least, where I dedicate myself with absolute focus to one thing, for some demarcated period of time. Say, one month.

But. With so very, very much to engage with in this one life getting shorter by the day, I desire (the root of all problems) to focus not on one thing only but to turn up the dial on one energy, one over-arching, or under-pinning, idea or theme or, what’s the word I am looking for?? One motivation? That’s not it. One goal? Let’s set aside the problem of pinning the language down, for now, to say that I want to turn up the dial, like on that equalizer up there ↑ to draw my energies through one frequency, one lens (that’s the word I want!) for some demarcated period of time, and to do that obsessively, joyfully. Obsession is joy, for some. I am the sum of those some, sitting here.

So what will I turn up the dial on, what lens, what frequency, and for what period? Thrilled by the possibility of transforming lack of focus into absolute focus, I scratched into the notebook THE CURE FOR LACK OF FOCUS IS ABSOLUTE FOCUS (double underline), and below that

June - MAKE MONEY

July - MAKE ART

August - FITNESS

What will it look like to squeeze all efforts through the lens of make art, make money, make fitness?

Let’s complicate money, art, fitness and the making of by pressing the idea into the lens through which all else follows, i.e. art, fitness, money become temporarily MONEY, or fitness, money, art become temporarily FITNESS, money, art, fitness become temporarily ART (no, that’s too boring! let’s make everything FITNESS or MONEY and remember,

WHO IS AFRAID IS FIT

Take ten lengths of pipe for reaching water 100 lengths down

Take one sparrow

Take one clam

Unmix

—Robert Kocik

Next week is JUNE, and JUNE begins a month of pressing all actions into service through the lens of MONEY

An arbitrary designation, but I’ll wager (with myself) on its effectiveness.

In about a month’s time, I’ll report back. But meanwhile, see you next week, here in the inbox.

Or not.

Love,

Suzanne

ps keep scrolling ↓

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