Attention Overflow

Reflections on emptying our cup

Photo by Ephraim Mayrena on Unsplash

When our attention is such a precious, limited thing that creates our reality and powers our imagination, how do we take care of it? How do we look after its diet, keeping it supple and curious to alert us to what we need? How do we prevent our attention from becoming a couch potato, chomping on the equivalent of fast food and spending the day on TikTok?

One of my valued teachers, Sunil Malhotra, often reminds me of the tale of the student constantly asking his teacher more about Zen. The master, pouring his tea into his cup, just kept pouring until it overflowed onto the table and floor. He made the point that to learn more; first, he had to empty his cup. As a voracious reader and knowledge accumulator, it rang very true.

It still does. As a generalist, I have wide interests across domains and love creating links across them. It makes it very easy for something to attract my attention and for the cup to start overflowing. How, then, to manage?

I’m b…