Attention is Generous

Last weekend we had very close friends visit with their 9 year old son Max who happens to be my godson. I loved spending time with all of them however the time with Max was especially poignant partly because being with him reminds me of when my kids were his age.

As I touched those memories it brought me back to my daughter’s back to school night when she was around Max’s age. That night, when I had arrived in the classroom, on the back table, there was an attendance sheet we needed to sign and next to that was a plate of cookies that the teacher had made. On the plate with the cookies was a piece of paper with a quote typed on it. The quote caught my eye and has been one that I have reflected upon quite often over the last 10 years.

“Attention is the rarest & purest form of generosity.”– Simone Weil

At the time I assumed her point in displaying that quote was that she wanted us to pay attention to her that evening however, in the time since I have wondered if it was also a reminder to be generous with our children by paying attention to them. The message stayed with me and positively influenced my parenting and many of my relationships since. This reminder became my message for this past week.

The mat is a great place to practice paying attention and when we pay attention the generosity our bodies receive is in the form of mindful choice. We choose to skip or modify when we need to, we choose to focus on our breath. Perhaps we choose to meet our bodies with a little more compassion and acceptance when we mindfully pay attention.

Off the mat it is the same. When we truly pay attention to ourselves in the moment, the generosity has a very powerful side effect… mindful choice. Towards the end of my classes this past week I shared another quote that highlighted this idea.

“Life is little more than an endless series of moments strung together by a single thread — choice.” — Pema Chodron

Mindful choice comes from the generosity we offer ourselves and others and I am so grateful to all of you for extending generosity to me through your attention here and on the mat.