Konzentration und Aufmerksamkeit
Can you stay focused?
Focus and awareness
At the moment I am skiing in Switzerland, a really rare interruption from painting or at least of the availability of my studio. Every day is different, my constitution is different, my mood, my fitness. I am not really a very good skier so I have to pay attention when the slope get`s too steep. When the slope is more even I can try new moves and improve my performance.
Yesterday I crashed because I felt too weak to hold the steady tension in my musles.
And I noticed that I forced myself to keep up with the skiing companions. Too much focus for a long time creates a feeling of struggle. I felt the need to expand my vision field, to look at nature, to listen to my feelings, to be more in tune with my state.
First I felt frustrated because I valued my strain as a weakness or failure. Even camparison as the thief of joy appeared and made me grumpy!
After a while I noticed that there is another way to be present and that`s through awareness.
Speeding downhill requires focus, no time to notice subtleties. I need to move slower sometimes because it creates a connection between my inner being and the world around.
I take these experiences metaphorically and thought they can be applied to art practise. Sometimes we are focused on the action part of the game, moving material, moving ourselves in front of the canvas, concentrating on a specific task that requires our full attention. Focus is tiring after a while. And we need to step again in another sort of presence where we connect with our feelings to the world we`re moving in.
It seems healthy for me to know when to switch between focus to awareness and viceversa.
What do you think?