When we drift from community

Our attention can become increasingly focused on our own lives. Work, family, routines, worries and everything we need to get done can take up much of our attention. Meanwhile, there may be people and communities around us that we notice less and less.

I’m curious about what happens when our attention becomes so focused on our own lives that we begin to notice less of the people and communities around us.

When life becomes our focus

There is always plenty competing for our attention.

We have our own responsibilities, relationships and things we are trying to manage. It is natural for these to take up much of our attention. Sometimes, without really noticing, our world can become smaller. We may see the same people each day without really noticing them. We may know what is happening in our own lives while noticing less of what is happening around us.

When we stop looking up

Community can be easy to overlook because it is often part of the background of everyday life. It might be the neighbour we pass, the person serving us at the local shop, or the people we see at the library, park or community centre. We don't have to know them well for them to be part of the world around us.

Perhaps community begins with noticing who is there.

Returning our attention

I’m aware that we cannot pay attention to everyone all the time. Our own lives matter, and sometimes our attention needs to be closer to home. Yet perhaps we can also make a little room for what is around us. We might look up. Notice who is there. Take an interest in what is happening nearby. It doesn't have to be a big gesture.

Sometimes returning to community begins with simply noticing that we are part of something larger than our own day.

I wonder what you might notice the next time you look up from your own life and take a moment to see the community around you