WE NEED TO PAY ATTENTION
Friday, March 5, 2021 - daily column #6687
The other day as I was settling into my writing-room chair after my morning walk, I debated what kind of mood-setting music I wanted.
Did I want silence?
Something memorable, or something new for variety?
I have favourite go-to tunes and artists, and those are most easy to go back to.
I paused to wonder how adventurous (or not) I am with my tastes. The rabbit-hole opened up, and I started asking myself the same questions about music, movies, books, food, restaurants, TV channels, newsfeeds, etc.
But it turned out to be a deeper rabbit hole.
The question, more important perhaps, is GO TO v. GO BACK TO?
How adventurous am I?
How adventurous are you?
Do we check out what young people are listening to, watching, and reading, or do we not even tiptoe in that direction?
I find, recently, I’ve been feeling more energy in nearly everything I do. It might be the weather, longer days, shorter nights – but this feels like a more profound shift.
I’ve also been connecting with some new people (dare I say, they are mostly much younger than me) and find that stimulating. I’m reading fresh material, listening to talks from people I’ve not heard of before. Sure, it’s easy to go-back-to familiar faces, familiar material. But what does that do? It’s soothing, not derailing my thought-train.
But is that such a good thing?
If new ideas come from familiar trusted sources, we probably pay attention …
But new ideas from unknown sources require listening, thinking, vetting, skepticism, and paying attention. We can’t just put them on as background music – we need to pay attention.
Reader feedback:
Them there QAnon folk are the ones who be truly ensorcelled, and I am going to use that word at least six more times today, RH, Calgary, AB
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