Self Reliance Part 2

A warning for our time: do not let anyone or anything take your concentration away.

We've all seen it. We've seen the people who drive their car and they have a cup of coffee in one hand and a phone in the other. They are not focused on any one thing. They are not focused on the coffee, probably not on the phone and certainly not on the road. I am not above it, I have been distracted too. I have had my attention split in many directions and I have had my concentration shattered. I've just tried to keep this at a minimum and not in a chronic state like it would be should I be careless.

The term “multitasking” has become increasing trite in recent years. Multitasking implies that a person can carry on with many things, none related, at once and get everything done. To me, this just creates confusion. Back in the car with the coffee and the phone call and eyes that should be on the road, is it really whole the hassle? I imagine if automobiles did not have any safety features, like seat belts, airbags or crumble bumpers, and if instead had a large sharpened metal spike that stretched from the steering wheel to the driver's face, multitasking would not be reserved for the car. I think if there was a reminder of the immanent outcomes of just one moment of carelessness, everyone would treat the operation of a motor vehicle with a level of mindfulness none of us currently understand.

What if we were all tasked with a given gift and we had to focus on that gift because like the metal spike on the steering wheel, we'd have dire outcomes if we ignored it. What would happen to the greater cause of humanity if everyone took their focuses inward, took their imagination and concentration and had the fortitude and self reliance to execute their given tasks? Perhaps we'd all be accomplishing our individual destinies with the precision that comes with an inherent understanding of the self.

It's easy to blame the external sources of distraction on all of the things that do not get done. It's easy to blame a lack of time, or even a lack of sleep. Lack of sleep certainly would remove all desire and concentration on a given task. After all, the human body as well as the mind need the rest. But a lack of time? Not a good excuse. There are only so many hours in a day, I know this, but there is plenty of time. John Keats wrote his entire canon before his 26^th birthday. Had John Keats taken up smoking weed and playing video games, no one would lament his early death as a loss to human letters. Knowing how much Keats was able to write in his short, short life, I'm certain that his concentration was never divided up, his imagination remained razor sharp and he knew exactly what he was and what he needed to be doing.

Retaining your concentration is difficult to do in any given moment, I know. I know the demands of daily life are ever present and oftentimes very important. I know the stress (and the pleasures) of rearing a child and the demands that small children bring to living life. I understand the need to support a home, after all it is good to have shelter and food and warmth. I know the maintenance it takes to foster good relationships with people, your friends and family. However, as distracting these things can be, anything with a heartbeat that makes a demand on your time is well worth the effort. I have never felt a loss of time or concentration or otherwise when spending time with a loved one. I have never felt that there was ever an opportunity cost when it came to being with someone. No, rather, it has always been the opposite. I hope it always will be.

The things that really pull the concentration apart is the constant and insistent and persistent buzzing, beeping, ringing, “hey you” banners that strip one layer after another of what could be a productive moment. Imagine this: you turn on your computer to write. You've finished your coffee. You are well planned and ready to go. You get a sentence typed. Then the email rings, the various social media sites are calling your name, a text message pops up on the phone next to you. One thing after the next taking you away from what you were doing. Then, if you're one of those, you decided to reply to the text and the email and the social media at the same time that you're working. You're multitasking. You become focused on everything and nothing all at once. This is how many of us work.

Now, let's take that sharpened metal spike off the steering wheel of the car, and let's place it on the original task we set about doing. Should we get removed from our concentration in any way, we are liable to get impaled and dead. What? I think it is exactly that important of a situation. Having anything and especially anything inanimate to take away your concentration is just as bad as driving on a hazardous road with no safety features in a car while texting and drinking coffee. It's just a moment's difference between living (or creating art) and death.

Self reliance has a few parts worth considering. Sure, it is the inherent understanding that what you are doing is what you need to be doing. It is the idea that there are so many things lurking in the light to take you away from what you need to be doing. There are perhaps a few things lurking in the dark too. Then there are all the things that will, if left unabated take away your concentration. Never let that happen, not under any circumstance. Not now, not ever.