focus on focus

What we focus on affects our perceptions and determines our experiences. Have you ever been to a party or a concert that you loved - and later talked to someone who had a horrible time? How could that happen? How could you have a great time at a concert or performance that someone else thought was horrible? Well, perhaps you had a great seat and the other person sat behind someone wearing a big hat. Maybe the person behind them talked all the way through the performance. Maybe that person hates Tenors and you love them.

Life is a lot like this. If you are at a concert and the person in front of you has a big hat and the person behind you won't shut up - well you aren't going to have an easy time focusing on the quality of the performance, right? At every moment in our lives there are ladies with big hats in front of us, metaphorically speaking. We can ALWAYS find something bad or distracting to concentrate on. It takes skill and discipline to look around the hat - and not become angry or frustrated - to enjoy the concert.

If you wanted to feel unsuccessful right now, could you do it? You bet! Just concentrate on times in your life that you have performed below your own expectations. We all have embarrassing moments when we did something that made us feel stupid. Conversely, if you are feeling badly, you can change your focus to concentrate on thoughts that empower. Have you ever had a horrible head ache and then taken a phone call or had something distract you and the next time you thought about it your headache was gone? That is the power of focus.

Because of this power in our head, what we focus on most tends to be true for us. You need to know something about how your brain works. Whatever you tell yourself - your brain believes. Your brain does not question - it is like a computer. Garbage in - garbage out. If you ask yourself "why does this always happen to me?" Your brain will come up with a reason "because you are dumb". If you plant corn in your garden, you shouldn't be real surprised when apples don't start to grow there.

So, how does this affect creativity? Simple. What are you telling yourself about your skills? Are you focusing on the Hat or the Stage? When you are working on a design or writing a paper or doing whatever you do - do you balance what works with what does not work? Not every design is going to be perfect - but do you give yourself credit for what is working?

In terms of your success as an artist - what are you focusing on? Do you have a goal (have you done the Goal Setting Workshop in the Workshop section of Tera's Wish?) that you are striving towards? If not, it is easy to get bogged down and frustrated over that hat instead being willing to shift slightly so that you can see the stage on which your Goal rests.

This month - start thinking about what you are focusing on. Does it serve you? Does it make you feel empowered and stronger? Does it make you feel bad and less likely to get back to work? You are the one that is in control!

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