Reflections on gently focusing attention to things beyond the endless cycle of our own human hamster wheel.

It’s six a.m. and the world outside is at the cusp of waking up. The sounds of crickets and animals that lurk sprinkle the silence with a soothing buzzing background. The darkness lies sleepily over rousing beings that roam under it. Just a while more, the sun will make its presence known and the Mr. Sky will take on bittersweet colors before resting on a blue hue tinged with grey.

It’s easy to forget that this little side of the day is unfolding beautifully outside busy minds that are compelled to step out and back onto the spinning work wheel. It’s easy to be on autopilot mode when we aren't all without the time to just kick our legs up and absorb the beauty that life has to offer, even in the most minute, common forms, such as the rising sun. Because, we're all have somewhere to go, a million things to do.

The mad dash to the cubicle or the creative work station never ceases to end and in the rush to keep the well-oiled machinery of work running, we sometimes get pigeonholed into a state of mind that may be less than inspiring. What I’d like to suggest is to notice the world around you, taking it whole, in an intentional manner, through new lenses. See the way the sky is shaping up today as you sip your first cup of coffee, the way clouds are congregating as you take in that momentary bustle of daily life.

What’s different today? Everything seems like a repeat of another day at first glance but look closely and you will notice that it’s never quite the same. The mosaic bricks that make up the daily rituals of others around us are both the same and gradually changing. When I was young, every little thing felt brand new, as though all was just taking place for the benefit of my own entertainment.

Now, that I’m older and hopefully less self-absorbed, I recognize the new in the old and the old in the new. The world has witnessed it all and here I am with my little window of consciousness, grasping for comprehension, of things I once boldly thought I’d figured out then, only to notice that there is a lot more to fit into my mind in a single lifetime.

And that is why, attention is priceless. I’m giving my attention away selectively to things that matter at first and if it runs off course, I nudge it back gently to the path and if it's impossible, I let it stray off for a bit like a curious cat that catches a whiff of something alluring behind a curtain of tall, swaying grass at dusk, slipping away to find out what it is.