Paying Attention is Excruciating: We Are Not Special. We Have Been Gifted

Paying Attention is Excruciating: We Are Not Special. We Have Been Gifted.

Paying attention is excruciating. Years ago, I wrote an article titled “Electric Shocks or Sitting Quietly? Which would you choose?” In the study I referenced, more participants chose electric shocks over sitting quietly with their thoughts. Meditation is hard. Our inner landscape can be so thorny that we’d rather be jolted from the outside than spend time alone with ourselves.

For me, and perhaps for you, sitting quietly in this particular time is especially challenging. Whether it is as a witness to my inner climate, or as a witness to what is happening around me (in my community, in my country, in the world), sitting quietly in a way that feels productive is hard right now. I know it’s necessary, and I do it. However, it raises conflicts about how I should spend my time.

For example, at one time, I felt OK writing an article simply about how meditation helps us personally. It is good for us, that’s unchanged. Study after study shows that meditation is good for our bodies, minds, and spirits. However, right now for me (I make no judgment about other writers), it usually feels incongruent to concentrate exclusively on personally focused practices without pairing them with collectively focused practices. Our individual well-being is part of the collective well-being of course. But it’s an easy slide into a privileged mindset, a trickle-down economics type of thinking, where the pursuit of our personal peace is more a form of avoidant navel-gazing. Paying attention is excruciating.

One and All One

To be more transparent, while I still believe that each of us can make a difference in the collective by being calm, peaceful, and loving in our internal states, I don’t think it’s enough. For me, it is not enough unless I pair that self-awareness and self-practice with something that speaks up against the absolute travesty that is happening in the world around us. The intentional brutality that is happening to our fellow beings.

This is not a novel idea. I am not doing anywhere near as much as some people. As I work to align my skills, time, and resources in ways that feel congruent with my values, it can feel like a drop in the ocean, never quite enough.

This is not a novel time in history. Other countries have fallen into authoritarianism. Other countries have shifted from relative freedom to fascism. Many people have justifiably feared being kidnapped by masked men and disappeared on their way to work or school. Or that their loved ones would be disappeared. Many parents have watched children starve or be gunned down. It is happening in the United States.

Americans are Not Special

We have had the luxury —not all of us, but many of us— of thinking and acting like we are exceptional, immune from these types of experiences. In reality, we had something precious that we took for granted.

I know this is a painful time for many of us. The news can feel like electric shocks. Sitting with our thoughts can feel like electric shocks. And while nature can be calming and soothing, that is not the point of nature. Nature is a living being with its own genius, a collective of living beings expressing their individual geniuses. We are all part of that family.

When the family I love is threatened, my protective instincts kick in. I hope yours do too. I love this land. I love the natural world, from the wolves to the woods, the bees to beaches, the moss to the mountaintops. I also love people. All of us—our family of humans, animals, and plants and the home we live on— are threatened right now.

Call to Action

When the beings I love are threatened it makes me angry. Anger serves a purpose; it lets us know when something feels wrong. Anger can be a call to action. My work has always been about determining and acting on these calls. Determining what calls to action are right for you is part of what we can work with in individual sessions. Staying present and compassionate, without absorbing everything energetically, can take practice and discipline for many of us. Paying attention is excruciating.

For many years, I’ve written about nature, spiritual practices, and creativity. I’ve shared ideas that work for me on how to improve our lives and relationships by understanding how our energy bodies and ecosystems function, so we can avoid burning out. I’ve opened up about my moments of communion with nature and spirits and witnessed as many of you had your own.

So while these days I apparently can’t share a quick little “Three steps to inner peace” article suggesting how great it would be to tune out, take a breath, or do a single journey and make the problems of the world feel less pressing, I can share a long article that says yes let’s breathe deep, journey, meditate, spend time outside, make music, or do any of the other things that help keep us calm and sane if we have the luxury right now to do those things.

And…

Let’s summon our inner warrior monks and mama tigers, let’s emulate John Lewis and Joan Carling, let’s be a champion for nature like Jane Goodall. Let’s summon our inner Kali Ma.

Let’s stand up for our family.

Let’s fight for what we love.

Feel free to be in touch, to schedule a session, and to join a circle.

I wish you and everyone in our beautiful country, and on this exquisite planet, safety and health.

Mara

Paying Attention is Excruciating: What’s Next?

@2025 Mara Bishop