"Jim Harrison once wrote that there is a clarity to childhood because the attention you pay to what you are doing is total. I think that’s true, but I also think there’s a bittersweetness to it, when you realize that paying total attention to whatever struck your fancy on a given day as a kid meant neglecting something else."
I've been thinking a lot lately about how attention and presence operate in childhood, that weirdly calm, dreamy hyperfocus that as an adult I can nearly only experience on psychoactive drugs and not really completely, not the way it was back then. It's easy to romanticize I think, especially when living in such a distracting time. So your reflections could not be coming at a more apt time.
Thanks for writing this, Chuck. I enjoy how you tie childhood mementos into what you have to say, here and in other posts. For me, it touches on some sweet part of the big, long continuation we're all here visiting. I, too, had a wiffle ball summer where it seemed like every swing I took was a home run.
Beautiful and evocative… so moved by that magnificent tree that you brought home as a seedling…lovely writing and memories.
"Jim Harrison once wrote that there is a clarity to childhood because the attention you pay to what you are doing is total. I think that’s true, but I also think there’s a bittersweetness to it, when you realize that paying total attention to whatever struck your fancy on a given day as a kid meant neglecting something else."
I've been thinking a lot lately about how attention and presence operate in childhood, that weirdly calm, dreamy hyperfocus that as an adult I can nearly only experience on psychoactive drugs and not really completely, not the way it was back then. It's easy to romanticize I think, especially when living in such a distracting time. So your reflections could not be coming at a more apt time.
I'm sorry for your loss.
Thanks for writing this, Chuck. I enjoy how you tie childhood mementos into what you have to say, here and in other posts. For me, it touches on some sweet part of the big, long continuation we're all here visiting. I, too, had a wiffle ball summer where it seemed like every swing I took was a home run.