Pay Attention!: A Reflection on Mindfulness

            “You’ve never noticed that before?”, “Are you even listening to me?”, “Hello? Pay attention!”. These phrases are what we commonly hear from people when they notice our inattention, or lack of attention. After reading Alexandra Horowitz’s excellent essay “Amateur Eyes”, I heavily noticed the immense amount of inattention we have in our daily lives. Especially now, with smartphones, we are inadvertently walking through life without noticing its complexity and beauty. I even noticed how, ironically enough, as I read Horowitz’s essay on why we should pay attention, my eyes drifted through the words of the reading; thinking about the many other tasks I have to complete before the weekend ends. As a matter of fact, when I got the chance to work past my brain’s to-do list, the handyman’s work clatter at my house, and the pressure to get things done in time, I actually resonated a lot with Horowitz view of how we should be ““mindful”- aiming to bring active attention to our daily lives by noticing new things” (Horowitz, 14). I, like Horowitz, believe I am an observant person, as those who really know me mention how I love to point out things that capture my attention. But, at other times, what is mundane often passes by me, unnoticed. Possibly, if we could pay more attention to what seems repetitive and uneventful, we become mindful, and notice new things that could even change our perspectives: “We miss the world making itself available to be observed. And we miss the possibility of being surprised by what is hidden in plain sight right in front of us” (Horowitz, 2). 

            The importance of being ‘present and pleasant’ seems to have drifted away as our lives get busier, responsibilities pile up, and time seems to be slipping away. Many people tattoo quotes on their bodies to inspire them to live in the moment like “Carpe Diem”, which means “seize the day”, as a reminder to live in the present and not worry so much about the future. In practice, Horowitz invites us to become “investigators of the ordinary”, where we consider what was familiar and old, as unfamiliar and new (3). To this, we add the elements of ‘switching on’ our capacity to attend and our tendency to look at the world from the point of view of our profession (3). As I recall moments in the past like after-school activities with my friends, going from class to class with my peers at University, or a nice Sunday stroll with family, I become aware of how we shared different perspectives about our surroundings and it greatly depends on my companions’ personalities or views. Each time we walked on what would seem to be an ordinary street, my sister, a Humanities major, would notice a Spanish flag dangling from a building. While my mom, a Biology teacher, would point out a specific species of tree and explain why it’s important to care for nature. I believe this is due to: “a perspective forged from explicit training (…) their sensibility was shaped by their passion” (Horowitz, 4), because, for me, these details would go completely unnoticed.

            Altogether, we should enhance our minds to become more present, and pay close attention to what surrounds us. The world can be distracting, and not everything is important or deserves our consideration, but “paying attention is simply making a selection among all the stimuli bombarding you at any moment” (Horowitz, 13). We must become more mindful to be able to live and experience life in a new, refreshing way. As a classic line from the protagonist in the teen comedy film, “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off”, said: “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it”.