A Joyful Practice

Noticing Things (on June 2nd) June 2, 2020

“And will any say when my bell of quittance is heard in the gloom,

     And a crossing breeze cuts a pause in its outrollings,

Till they rise again, as they were a new bell’s boom,

     “He hears it not now, but used to notice such things?”

– from the poem “Afterwards” by Thomas Hardy, set to music by Lon Lord

Born today (June 2^nd) in 1840, Thomas Hardy was an architect who is remembered as a novelist and a poet who noticed things. I know, I know, writers notice things – that’s part of their job description. But Hardy also noticed what he (and others) noticed. He noticed the art or practice of noticing. Take a moment to notice what you notice. Bring awareness to your awareness.

You can jump over to the April 19^th “Noticing Things” post or do that “90-second thing” right here. Either way, pause, just for a moment and notice without the story or the extra dialogue that springs to mind. Or, notice the extra dialogue that inevitably springs to mind.

As I mentioned yesterday, this week is about perception and ideals. Start to notice what you notice, but also notice what you make important. When you notice what sticks in your heart and in your mind, you will start to notice the origins of your words and deeds. You will start to notice the kind of person you are telling the world you are and aim to be.

“‘It is a difficult question, my friends, for any young man– that question I had to grapple with, and which thousands are weighing at the present moment in these uprising times– whether to follow uncritically the track he finds himself in, without considering his aptness for it, or to consider what his aptness or bent may be, and re-shape his course accordingly. I tried to do the latter, and I failed. But I don’t admit that my failure proved my view to be a wrong one, or that my success would have made it a right one; though that’s how we appraise such attempts nowadays–I mean, not by their essential soundness, but by their accidental outcomes.’”

 

– from Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy

“‘Remember that the best and greatest among mankind are those who do themselves no worldly good. Every successful man is more or less a selfish man. The devoted fail…’”

– from Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy

Hardy wrote about sex, religion, marriage, class, education, morality, and where all six themes intersected with each other as well as with a person’s individual will as it intersected with universal will (or a single other person’s will), what he called “Immanent Will.” He wrote about being alive, being dead, and about ghosts and spirits. He also wrote, in letters, about race and the impact different cultures could have on society. He noticed things… and made some of those things important.

Please join me today (Tuesday, June 2^nd) at 12 Noon or 7:15 PM for a practice of noticing things, virtually.  Use the link from the “Class Schedules” calendar if you run into any problems checking into the class. Give yourself extra time to log in if you have not upgraded to Zoom 5.0. You can request an audio recording of this practice via a comment below.

Tuesday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. (NOTE: This is the playlist titled “04192020 Noticing Things.” We are using the first half of the playlist.)

“‘I had a neat stock of fixed opinions, but they dropped away one by one; and the further I get the less sure I am. I doubt if I have anything more for my present rule of life than following inclinations which do me and nobody else any harm, and actually give pleasure to those I love best. There, gentlemen, since you wanted to know how I was getting on, I have told you. Much good may it do you! I cannot explain further here. I perceive there is something wrong somewhere in our social formulas: what it is can only be discovered by men or women with greater insight than mine–if, indeed, they ever discover it– at least in our time. ‘For who knoweth what is good for man in this life?–and who can tell a man what shall be after him under the sun?’”

– from Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy

### “‘Be a good boy, remember; and be kind to animals and birds, and read all you can.’” – TH ###