Skywriting - Grasshopper

Ever notice how skywriting disappears soon after it’s etched in the sky? The letters lose their shape and become indistinct puffs of smoke.

This phenomenon mirrors the attention span of just about the entire culture. The news media is partly responsible. It amazes me that the major story from a week or a few days ago disappears and gets little or no follow-up.

 

We’ve become a skywriting society of scatterbrains.

 

Our attention span has compacted over the years to the point that we can’t stay on point for more than nanoseconds.

 

We get distracted by the new shiny object that takes our attention away from that which there is more to say.

 

I don’t know the remedy for this dilemma, but I have a guess: Mindfulness.

 

In short, mindfulness is becoming mindful of what you’re unmindful of. Take your breathing for example. It goes on all day and night and we’re unaware. Becoming aware of your breathing is a doorway into mindfulness.

 

In a special edition of National Geographic Magazine (June 2019), they have dedicated a whole issue to this topic. The cover reads, “EVERYDAY MINDFULNESS Finding Focus, Calm, and Joy.”

 

Whether you read the magazine or not, mindfulness is the key to staying focused and keeping our attention from flitting about like a swarm of fruit flies.

 

In order to solve our problems and challenges, we have to stay focused on a solution strategy long enough for the writing to be on the wall, rather than being blown away by the winds of whimsy.

 

Become mindful of your attention. It’s guaranteed to get your head out of the clouds.

 

All the best,

John