21. To Be Concerned With Everything

My attention must be free to wander. But often I inhibit its freedom. I narrowly focus on one task to the exclusion of all else, or I block particular experiences or ideas from my view, or I try to possess and maintain whatever is present.

When I do these things, my attention becomes stuck. My imposed control restrains it. Being stuck is not the same as lingering or being at rest. My attention may rest on a single point, but I need to allow this to happen without force.

When I restrict the movement of my attention, my sensitivity towards myself and the world is profoundly limited. As I force my attention to stay fixed on my own particular ends, it cannot reach anything or anyone outside my focus. I treat myself like a machine, with no other concern than to fulfill practical goals. But a human being needs to be concerned with everything and everyone, for only with awareness can I see how I must act.

I control my attention because I have been trained to see its control as necessary for productivity and success. But in doing so, I bar myself from understanding what is happening in myself and in the world. I bar myself from responding with sensitivity to all that I encounter. I bar myself from taking action to reduce unnecessary pain and eliminate suffering.

I must allow my attention to explore all of myself and all of the world. It is by granting my attention the freedom to wander that I become more able to act with care and compassion.