Focus

I believe that what is 'distracting' is focusing on something that will not produce some benefit for the individual

Most people diagnosed with ADD that I have listened to, do not have a deficit of attention. When surveyed, they are paying attention to something, just not what the structured environment rewards one for.

When I feel I'm in the zone, I could say that I am distracted from the world going by because I'm not aware of place or time or people around, only the task at hand. Only thing is that I am rewarded for that distraction.

Find that you have been distracted from the world around you by the observation process on the young person you are attempting to help, and you earn a reputation for being a good clinician.

Be distracted from a performance by self-doubt, and thoughts of the Myth narrative, and you are going to stumble and perhaps tank.

Just as I believe that there is eu-stress and dis-stress, good and bad stress, in terms of perception if not physiology, I believe that there, then must be eu-focus and dis-focus. The former producing gain and satisfaction, while the other is counterproductive and not a little self-destructive.

If all behavior is designed consciously or unconsciously to produce a gain, there is benefit that accrues for choosing dis-focus rather than eu-focus.

A time of change

I believe in this man who will become president tomorrow.

I don't believe he is perfect, and I am not sure that I agree with all his ideas, but I believe for the first time in my life time, we have a leader who is a big-picture thinker and who is immensely intelligent, gathers information the way most of us breathe, and has answered the question "Am I enough?' in the affirmative, this latter creating a mind set that does not need to be liked, nor approved of. All of his considerable energy, then, can be brought to the task at hand.

If any of us kept our attention on our work, instead of being distracted by the environment, either external or internal, we too could consistently produce at a high level.

If any of us expunged our fear that drives the Myth of Inadequacy, what could we accomplish?

If we challenged the deeply held but erroneous fear that we in fact are less, what would our lives be like?

I believe we would be brilliant.

Music

I believe in live music, anyone's live music.

Well, maybe not Celine Dion's live music.

Live music is far superior to heavily processed studio albums. In second place are the recordings of live music. I think it is the energy, the vibe that the current technology allows tapers to capture.

I was listening (Live Music Archive ) to a live audience recording of the New Years run of three shows (12/29, 12/30, and 12/31/2008, Portland OR) by what I'm beginning to believe is one of the best bands of all time - Railroad Earth, and I found myself muttering the tapers most commonly expressed epithet, "Shut the F&ckUp!", as I strained to hear a particularly soft piece of amazing playing while a female voice kept yelling "Yahoooo! Yahoooo!".

In a flash, I had the realization that this performance and recording are so full of the real energy of life that I'm driving down 395 having a Memorex-type experience, just as though I was there, as witnessed by my annoyance with the hammered wookie chicks.

I continued on home, enjoying the music and anticipating the next Whoot! Whoot!

Check it out if you have an interest:

http://www.archive.org/search.php?query=rre%20AND%20mediatype%3Aetree%20AND%20collection%3Aetree&sort=-publicdate

I believe that the human animal is capable of so much more production and satisfaction than it currently outputs. I believe that each of us could do our jobs better, love more, laugh louder, and in general, squeeze all the juice out of life, and I don't think it would take a a lot to achieve this.

All we need to do is stop telling our Self that we are not enough. Easily written. Harder to accomplish, evidently.

Look around. How many of us are energized, anticipating tomorrow and the challenges before us?

The narrative has immense power. The way the human psyche works is simple, in a way. Reinforce a concept repeatedly and it becomes reality. The Myth of Inadequacy, being linked to survival, begins to develop at the point that the child realizes that it cannot take care of itself without a fair amount of help.

The thing is that we tell ourselves the story so often that it grows in strength, and we continue to recount the myth, even when we can take care of ourselves pretty well.

If we consciously, intentional begin to challenge the myth with the reality of our ability, we can devote our focus to whatever the task at hand might be., and I believe we would work, play love, be better simply by not being distracted by the untruth that we are not enough.

I've always wanted to...

think about and record the things I believe in.

There are so many things that we do as if on autopilot. We often are considering the content of the moment, or the past, or the future, but in regard to thinking about the process, the why and how of the choices we make, maybe not so much

I'm not sure I know exactly what I believe, but I'd like to think about it and then write it down, and if you wanted to share things you believe in, that seems pretty cool.

We'd get to know our Self a little better, and in the process, maybe learn a little about each other.