I’m trying to pay attention as I write today’s email…
But my brain is limiting me.
You see, our brain processes an unimaginable amount of information.
Light. Sound. Temperature. Movement. Facial expressions. Memories. Sensations.
I learned this week that it's roughly 11 million bits of sensory information per second. Flooding in.
And yet our conscious awareness only receives around 40 bits per second.
A tiny slice of reality.
Which means something strange is happening…
Reality isn't simply appearing before us.
Reality is being selected. Filtered. Edited. Compressed.
And so we experience what our attention allows through. Those 40 bits.
Which means two people can walk through the exact same day and inhabit entirely different worlds.
One person notices beauty. Another notices danger.
One notices possibility. Another notices rejection.
One notices patterns. Another notices problems.
Same reality. Different attention. Different world.
In a way, our attention shapes who we become.
A musician spends years paying attention to rhythm.
Eventually they start hearing rhythm everywhere.
A writer spends years paying attention to meaning.
Eventually they find stories in everything.
An artist spends years paying attention to color, texture, shape, emotion.
Eventually the entire world becomes a living gallery.
They've transformed their perception.
And so if we’re the sum of what we pay attention to...
Then every day is a vote.
Every scroll. Every conversation. Every obsession. Every curiosity. Every rabbit hole.
It’s all a vote for the person we’re becoming.
Whatever receives our attention grows.
Whatever loses our attention fades.
Relationships. Skills. Beliefs. Dreams. Entire identities.
They all live or die based to the attention we direct toward them.
Which is why living a creative life is primarily about devotion.
Deep devotion.
The daily practice of returning our attention to what fascinates us.
Again. And again. And again.
Until our life starts organizing itself around what makes us feel alive.
What captures our attention when nobody is watching.
The things that align to our real values.
So pay attention to your attention.
Notice what keeps pulling you back.
Notice what you can't stop thinking about.
Notice what makes hours disappear.
Ask yourself…
What are you paying attention to?
Stay creative,
