Knowing how to control the flow of attention has become a coveted skill. Attention can be drawn automatically or directed consciously. Celebrities focus the attention of thousands of people simultaneously with great relish, and digital applications fragment the attention of millions more repeatedly and profit financially. A person can focus his or her attention on his or her entire environment as well as on a
environment as well as focusing on a specific problem.
problem. Those who disperse it end up with a deficit.
A book, a phone, a doggie, a food item, money, all receive attention insofar as they represent something to those who give them attention. Since we have a material existence, we can also receive attention as an object, for example in transportation, in body care, and in all physical aspects of our lives. Even our biological nature can receive this kind of objective attention, but we cannot be satisfied with it alone; we are more than a body.
What we give our attention to reveals a lot about us, which many algorithms are responsible for recording, as parents or teachers do, but on a different scale. Attention carries a charge of intention: affinity, interest, appreciation, control; this intention exposes us to being appreciated as well as to being rejected. Talk to the police officer or the controller. One-way attention doesn't last very long; the attention that satisfies us is part of an exchange, both when we give it and when we receive it.
Some people prefer to go unnoticed while others demand it excessively, as proof of their existence. The teacher quickly learns when to give and not give attention and students benefit from knowing when and what to give it to. Many teens feel they need to break free from overbearing or constricting parental or authority attention.
We accept attention from others more easily when we feel confident, appreciated and in control and we don't like to receive it when we feel awkward, when we perceive it without knowing for what purpose, such as when we are evaluated arbitrarily, and also when we transgress laws or agreements without assuming. Knowing how to give attention and receive it go hand in hand in a balanced relationship.
Good week
Denys Lamontagne - [email protected]
Illustration: DepositpHotos - bomg11
