Nov 15, 2024

Gymnastics Of Attention by Menka Sanghvi

I once tried an improv class to see if that would finally help calm my stage nerves. It didn't. But I did learn something amazing. If an actor is trying to show the audience that they love someone, they can do this by spending a lot of time looking at that someone. Returning their gaze to their object of love, again and again, glancing, tracking, noticing details. To us sitting in the audience, this looks a lot like love. We see where the actor's attention is going, and we intuitively sense their care. Even a child would sense it.

The simplicity of this really hit home. What we look at is what we care about! A great metaphor for noticing is "gymnastics of the attention." It comes from Simone Weil, who taught philosophy of science at the Lycée for Girls in Le Puy. She used the phrase to talk about teaching as ... [Read more]

Seed questions for reflection: How do you relate to the notion that what we practice looking at is what we care about? Can you share a personal story of a time you got really curious about how much of what you saw was directed by habit or external influences versus your own personal practice? What helps you slow down to be curious about your choices?