Pay attention

"The aspects of things that are important for us are hidden because of their simplicity and familiarity. One is unable to notice something because it is always before one's eyes." —Wittgenstein

For years when I was actively posting to this blog I chose a word or phrase to mark the new year. Although I've let this journal go dormant, two words have been showing up repeatedly over the last few days and I know I need to write them down. Maybe it's the significant birthday that just passed, the loss of my mom this last year, finding my baby has become a teenager, or just what Wittgenstein noted so astutely—that the most essential and important moments are like vapor, present for a fleeting moment, out of grasp or often not even consciously recognized.

I want to be aware of these moments. I want to see, hold and remember them. But I realize I not only need to do something to document and preserve what's right before my eyes—write, draw, sew, paint—I need to pay attention better. I need a way to look for them and hold on.

I'm not going to say that I'm going to start writing a book this year or sew a quilt or get serious about poetry. I'm not going to promise myself to post regularly to this blog. I'm just going to commit to pay attention. I'm going to keep my eyes open and survey every day in an effort to find the nugget of beauty, the fragment of story, the memory to save.

Here's where I've picked up that paying attention could be the secret to a life of wonder and possibility and more creativity:

• This intriguing TED talk. I'm going to give "homework for life" a try. For a week or two at least.
• This gorgeous interview with John O'Donohue about beauty.
• This heart-wrenchingly beautiful "textbook." I inhaled it and have a crazy impulse to send it to everyone I love.

Will paying attention slow time down? Will it make me more patient, more astute, more in tune? Will it give me access to that memory vapor that just slips through my grasp?

It's a new year. As good a time as any.  I resolve to find out.