Nota Bene №3: rescuing attention

Everyday poets, specificity, & a defense of various attention styles

One year ago today, I sent my first email for ALL DAY. The thought projects and breakthroughs I share here change my life, my perspective, my poems and help me open my heart. Honestly, though, it’s also been the most uncertain year of my entire life. And yet, I’ve come to see uncertainty as its own kind of attention: a waiting, a listening, a willingness to be with what is unknown before it fully reveals itself. Through the veering, the emptiness, the being, the play, the labor, the circles, the rooting, the slow, the listening, the ambiguity—my god, the ambiguity!—and more, here we’ve been, you and me, for a year of Sundays. This project—ALL DAY—is a true gift, and I love you and this space dearly. Thank you to each of you for being here.

As winter wanes, I’m forging forward on my ever-evolving mission to rescue attention. (And as disorienting as Daylight Savings Time sometimes feels, I’m delighted the light will linger longer this evening!)

Have you ever read Mouse Soup?¹ One of the stories in the book is about two large stones that begin to wonder what it’s like on the other side of the hill. Different animal perspectives reveal what is there, and the stones respond to the stories from the other side. It is such a simple story and reminds us to be content with what we have. But here’s the thing: the only way to be content with what we have is to pay attention to it.