Noticing: What Do I Choose To Notice?

Special thanks to Baby Blues' creators Rick Kirkman and Jerry Scott for their August 22, 2014 comic strip (http://www.babyblues.com/archive/index.php?formname=getstrip&GoToDay=08/22/2014):

(Click on image to enlarge)

After laughing through this comic strip, I reflected throughout the day about what I choose to notice.  What filters are in place -- or filters I allow to stay in place -- which create my blind spots?  Where do I not notice what is important to other people?  What am I missing?

Noticing is one way to slow down and see differently:  the beauty of the world around us; the relationships that bind us; the positive aspects of our lives; the issues that divide us; and so many other moments throughout our day.

Over the past few months I have come to realize that noticing allows me to become more curious:

• About who I am (visible personality and talents as well as hidden and mysterious corners);
• Who you are (a new friend or a friend anew); and
• Who I am in relation with another/Other.

Beginning this journey of noticing is not always easy.  There are too many distractions that get my attention, and sadly, keep me from seeing and experiencing you.   I have begun a new journey of noticing, learning the disciplined skill which will honor and respect the relationship of who we could become... together.  Please be patient with me, and point out to me what I have missed!

I will try not to notice that you were given one more "sprinkle" than me!  But, if I do notice the "one more," promise me that we will dialogue.

Noticing: Learning to Let Go

When no one listens to the quiet trees
When no one notices the sun in the pool
Where no one feels the first drop of rain
Or sees the last star
Or hails the last morning of a giant world
Where peace begins and rages end:

One bird sits still
Watching the work of God:
One turning leaf,
Two falling blossoms,
Ten circles upon the pond.

One cloud upon the hillside,
Two shadows in the valley
And the light strikes home.
                       ~Thomas Merton

Dear Community,
This bit of a poem by Thomas Merton speaks volumes to me. It may be the essence of 'noticing.'
It seems to be at the heart of the practice itself. There is nothing to do. It is not necessary to put oneself into a yoga pretzel position or to give oneself a backache sitting on a meditation cushion.
In and of themselves, they are wonderful places for noticing; however, they are not the necessary means to an end in the practice.

Let go of any rules, prescriptions and assumptions. Just, well, notice. And, don't make a big deal out of what you notice. Noticing unfolds, much like Thomas understood. Without trying, see where the practice of noticing takes you. Separate details and assumptions that are so easy to form in the mind!
Just, well, notice.

I was recently in San Francisco and then a rural area in Northern California. Here are some of my noticings:
Two pigeons sitting atop a billboard on Market Street.
A middle-aged and ragged-looking man stood in the doorway of a small diner, drew in a long drag on his cigarette, and exiled the smoke into the restaurant while smiling.
While mama deer skitted away, a fawn stood still, noticing.
Desire to finish things that can never be finished.
"Letting go" welcomes spaces, sometimes welcomed spaces.
When meditating, if you can let yourself think your thoughts and feel your emotions, the mind and body find their way toward Silence, Breath, and Beyond. Isn't the same true while noticing?

Finally, when we say "I notice," WHO is the "I?"

We practice alone yet together.
Namaste,
Michael Tompkins, IHM

Noticing: An Invitation to Practice

From August 14, 2014:  Our most recent San Diego Contemplative Dialogue gathering ("Community of Practice") focused on "noticing."  The invitation or "homework" for this next month is to notice and share little items or events that you spot on the way to work, doing dishes, riding your bike, walking in the woods, kayaking with alligators...

Tell us the things that you notice:

• strange little items or events
• newly noticed aesthetic qualities of everyday items
• any sort of epiphany or discovery

Start now:

• What do you see?
• What do you notice?

Respond directly to this blog post, or email us (dialoguesd@gmail.com).  Please, using your own discretion, note in your email if we can share your posting on the blog (with your name or anonymous).

Happy noticing!

Quote - Jane Goodall, primatologost, anthropologist, and author

You cannot get through a single day without having an impact on the world around you.  What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.

Noticing: How to Take A Walk In The Woods

Adam Frank
National Public Radio


When was the last time you met someone who didn't tell you they were "crazy busy"? It seems like everyone these days is overwhelmed. From the endless tasks of maintaining home and family life to the ever-accelerating pressures of the endlessly troubled, endlessly competitive economy, it seems that all of us are running ragged.

In this permanent state of hyperventilation, the issue for us all is not stopping to smell roses. It's not even noticing that there are roses right there in front of us. Joseph Campbell, the great scholar of religion, hit the core of our problem when he wrote, "People say that what we're all seeking is a meaning for life. I don't think that's what we're really seeking. I think that what we're seeking is an experience of being alive."

But how can we experience "being alive" in the midst of the crushing urgencies that make up modern life?

Well, it might seem strange, but one answer to that question is "science," at least science with a lowercase "s." Science, you see, is all about noticing. This is where it begins, with simple act of catching seeing the smallest detail as an opening to a wider world of wonder and awe. And here is the good news. you don't need a particle accelerator or well-equiped genetics lab in your basement to practice noticing (that would be science with a capital "S").

You already are a scientist. You have been since you were a kid playing with water in the tub, or screwing around in the backyard with dirt and sticks and stuff.

If you want to rebuild your inner-scientist-noticing-skills, the best place to begin is with a walk in the woods.

There are lots of reasons to take a walk in the woods. To get away from it all, clear your head, smell the fresh air. The problem, or course, is that even if we get ourselves into a park or a forest, we might still be so lost in our heads that we miss what's right in front of us. Practicing noticing, like a scientist, can
change that by binding us to experience in ways that are thrilling, even in their ordinariness.

Noticing can take many forms. One trick is to count things. Scientists love to count stuff. How many trees are there on the sides of a steep hill compared with its crest? How many leaves are there on the stalks of the blue flowers compared to the yellow ones? How many different kinds of birdsong do you hear when you stop and listen, (by the way, this requires really stopping and really listening, which is awesome). Counting things forces you to pay attention to the sublets in the landscape, the plants, the critters.

Other things scientists love: shapes, colors, patterns. Do the rocks at the stream's edge look different from the ones near the trail? Do the big cattails have the same color as the small ones? Get your naturalist on and bring a notebook. Pretend you are Henry David Thoreau or John Muir. Jot down your findings, make little drawings and always, always ask yourself those basic questions: why, how, and when?

You don't need the answers. As the poet Rilke once said, "Try to love the questions themselves, like locked rooms and like books written in a foreign language." Questions raise our pulse and sharpen our delight.

Noticing need not be a passive activity. Remember the words of the great scientist Ms. Frizzle (of The Magic School Bus), "Take changes, make mistakes, get messy." Who needs a gym when you can climb the steep face of a hill? Hoisting yourself up a tree is a great way to notice the trees, the branches and the roots. Sure, most of us won't be emulating John Muir, riding out a Yosemite thunderstorm in the crest of wildly swaying Douglas fir. Still, we might climb a few low-hanging branches, forcing ourselves into questions like: "Why do the big limbs give way to narrow branches?" or "Exactly where on the branch do the leaves start to grow?" and of course, "How the hell do I get down from here?"

I am not a biologist, geologist or plant physiologist, so I am as clueless as the next guy when I get out in the woods. But these science tricks for noticing help me focus my attention and keep me present. And that's what it's all about: presence.

Refining our capacity to notice is an act of reverence that we can bring to everywhere and everywhen. It's an invitation, bringing the world's most basic presence into view, opening our horizons and restoring our spirits. And that is what science is really there for.

Listen to the Story:
Noticing: How To Take A Walk In The Woods

_________
You can keep up with more of what Adam Frank is thinking on Facebook and on Twitter @AdamFrank4

Thursday, August 14 Invitation

Dear Friends,

Our Contemplative Dialogue Community of Practice will meet this month on Thursday, August 14th, 6:30 pm, at Michael's place above Trader Joe's in Hillcrest (1090 University Avenue, Loft 202B).  We ask that you arrive a few minutes before 6:30 to begin on time with a moment of silence and a full presence check in.

This has become a safe gathering place to share our experiences with one another as we learn to slow down, as we begin to notice our thought processes and emotions, and as we become more aware of ourselves and others.  We can then become more curious and explore new questions:
How do I want to show up?
How can I overcome the defensiveness that binds me?
How will I live in freedom and with choice?

Last month we reviewed the seven practices that serve as a "mindfulness checklist."  These Dialogue Skills come from the work of Chris Argyris and colleagues.  The discussion was very engaging as we reviewed these dialogue skills and talked about our experiences using and noticing Contemplative Dialogue in our lives.

Many people described moments when they suddenly realized the impact they were having on a situation.  Let's continue this discussion by focusing on Practice #6, Notice your own impact on a situation. Notice and check out the possible ways in which our different roles or communication styles affect the dialogue process. "Does my position make this awkward to talk about? I would feel awkward if you all were my boss...."  We invite you to take time over the next few days to slow down, reflect, and notice your impact -- or the impact that others may have -- on a situation.

Join us!  And remember that this isn't linear learning.  "No worries" if you haven't been to one of our gatherings before or in the past few months.  All are welcome!  Your presence impacts all of us!

Congratulations to Sandy Trybus and Mike St. John for completing their two-year Practicum!


                             

REMINDER

Please begin spreading the word that Jean Holsten will be facilitating the next San Diego 4-Day workshop: Friday, September 26, through Monday, September 29.  More details will follow.


Be well ~ Larry, Annette & Michael