Book: Rapt: Attention and the Focused Life
Author: Winifred Gallagher
Author: Winifred Gallagher
Grade: C-
Given that I'm told a dozen times daily to pay attention or focus (neither of which are my strong suits by any stretch of the imagination), a crash course on the "how-to's" of living a focused life seemed like just what the proverbial doctor ordered. Gallagher manages to turn those two simple words ("pay attention") into a 220 page discourse on every conceivable nuance and facet of the concept. The primary premise of "Rapt" is the claim that our reality is whatever we choose to focus on at any given moment. Makes sense, right? In theory. In practical application it gets a little trickier.
As someone with this previous exposure to the practice of mindfulness, let me go on record as saying it's not an easy practice (at least not for this gal, whose brain goes a mile a minute and in 20 different directions at once - on a good day). I doubt anyone's shocked to learn that paying attention to the good in your life, as opposed to the negative, helps achieve a sunnier outlook. I was unaware of some of the exact health benefits resulting from this practice and did find many of the anecdotes to be interesting. Still, "Rapt" struggled to hold my attention (no pun intended). Were it half of its length, it could be an interesting read on a common struggle. I, however, lost interest halfway through, had to struggle to finish and would be hard pressed to recommend this.
Then again, perhaps I just wasn't focusing my attention on the positive aspects of "Rapt." :)
Given that I'm told a dozen times daily to pay attention or focus (neither of which are my strong suits by any stretch of the imagination), a crash course on the "how-to's" of living a focused life seemed like just what the proverbial doctor ordered. Gallagher manages to turn those two simple words ("pay attention") into a 220 page discourse on every conceivable nuance and facet of the concept. The primary premise of "Rapt" is the claim that our reality is whatever we choose to focus on at any given moment. Makes sense, right? In theory. In practical application it gets a little trickier.
As someone with this previous exposure to the practice of mindfulness, let me go on record as saying it's not an easy practice (at least not for this gal, whose brain goes a mile a minute and in 20 different directions at once - on a good day). I doubt anyone's shocked to learn that paying attention to the good in your life, as opposed to the negative, helps achieve a sunnier outlook. I was unaware of some of the exact health benefits resulting from this practice and did find many of the anecdotes to be interesting. Still, "Rapt" struggled to hold my attention (no pun intended). Were it half of its length, it could be an interesting read on a common struggle. I, however, lost interest halfway through, had to struggle to finish and would be hard pressed to recommend this.
Then again, perhaps I just wasn't focusing my attention on the positive aspects of "Rapt." :)
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