Tag: awareness

What is Quality Life?

On By AnnIn Marvin SwansonLeave a comment

“It’s a discovery of your inner landscape when you turn something over and over in your mind until suddenly you see it from a new viewpoint. It involves insight, and is illuminating, sometimes beautiful.”

“The thinker, the writer, the feeler experiences life itself as his best learning tree.”

“A quality life involves awareness, simplicity, magnanimity, and independence.”

-Marvin Swanson

I recently stumbled across a few words from a piano technician I regard highly. We tend to go from “simplicity to complexity to perplexity to harmony,” a poetic sequence of words describing many of life’s quests.

 

Refreshing our Awareness

On By AnnIn Marvin SwansonLeave a comment

Marvin was forever seeking “fresh awarenesses of the long-familiar”, as well as ideas on how to accomplish that. Here’s a list:

“How can we work to heighten awareness? (1) a change in our routine; (2) taking time to analyze; (3) writing, painting, photographing, actually performing in the arts; (4) a new view of the familiar. How do you achieve this?

How can we make the familiar stand out in freshness and newness? It often seems to take a change from the ordinary—a change of feelings, of routine, of environment or a change of season.”

-Marvin Swanson

Awakenings

On By AnnIn Author friends, Healing, Marvin Swanson, My Favorite Giants, Nature1 Comment

For the last few weeks, I’ve contemplated the question raised by Marvin Swanson decades ago. What things do hamper our awareness of our immediate surroundings? Things that distract our minds, keep us focused on inner dialogue, perhaps. Though he noted several young friends who were television addicts forty years ago, I suspect Marvin would be amazed to find that today we can take our screen distractions to any place at any time and ignore what’s happening in front of us.

 

From Marvin:

I’ve been thinking of what puts blinders on awareness: feeling down, worry, being an eccentric wheel around an unproductive crush, too much alcohol or drugs.

And what increases awareness? How can one develop greater awareness? It often seems to take a change from the ordinary—a change of feelings, of routine, of environment. How can we make the familiar stand out in freshness and newness? Go outdoors. Enjoy stimulating conversation with a new acquaintance. Read a good book. Listen to music. Sometimes a good TV show or movie works. A change of season helps too.

Awareness is increased by (1) change (2) time to analyze experience. Can we add more to our list?

—MS

What have I missed by being self-absorbed? How can I break out of that box?

What works for you?