One Apple A Day #550 - focus on nothing
What you focus on expands.
I'm sure you already experience this straightforward law. When you focus entirely on one thing, that thing fills up all your sensory space. I experience the power of this law every morning when I approach this writing exercise. If I focus on the white page before me, it quickly fills up my mind until I'm stuck, unable to write a single word.
So, I know I have to find an idea before opening a new file. Most of the time is just a small seed like a sentence, an image or just a word. Once the seed is there, I focus on it for a minute or two. I allow for that seed to expand until it becomes an idea, and it wants to flow out.
This morning, the seed is a question.
What would happen if I deliberately decide to focus on nothing?
Being able to laser focus on something is extremely powerful. It removes all distractions, so our energy is wholly devoted to making happen the target of our attention. It's one of the first concepts taught by all experts in high performances.
So, what happens if I deliberately turn off my attention? When I don't have a goal to reach, a target for my attention and I just am? I'm not sure I can describe it in words. I remember feeling like that when I was wandering in Patagonia with my best friend. We didn't have anything to focus on but fully being in the moment. And it was bliss.