Heroes Not Zombies

I’m irresistibly drawn to spider webs…..good job I’m not a fly!

They are frequently beautiful and frankly stunning. I never cease to be amazed by how a tiny creature can make something like this with only their own body. They have the knowledge, the skills and the resources to weave these webs. How did that come about? Isn’t it simply wonder-full?

What this photo inspires me to think about today is how I am “irresistibly drawn” to such creations. There is so much in our every day lives and surroundings which can capture our attention. In fact, don’t people talk now about an “attention economy”? Especially in social media with its dependence on advertising income at the core of its business model? They have to make “content” (I’m getting to hate that word!) which shocks, appalls, enrages, thrills or scares people, so they will stop, click the photo or the link and Kaching! more dollars to the companies involved. Meanwhile the people whose attention has been caught are left feeling shocked, appalled, enraged, thrilled or scared.

Is that how you want to be?

We can choose. We can choose where to direct our attention, and where to give our time and space. This web in the garden caught my attention, and created, for me, a moment of delight and wonder, leaving me curious, amazed and happy. I don’t click through on the most obvious “click baits” when I’m on social media, but I still get hooked in too much. It’s pretty pernicious. It’s the same with the “news cycle” of our mainstream media. How do you feel after watching today’s news programme? I feel more and more dissatisfied with what passes as journalism on mainstream media. When it isn’t superficial and repetitive, it seems too often to be full of conjecture and speculation rather than reports and analysis.

But we can choose.

Once we are aware of where our attention is going, and what’s being provoked, or evoked by whatever it is we are looking at, or listening to, we can take a more active, more conscious approach. That’s the basis of this entire blog – heroes not zombies – to move from being passive and reactive consumers, to creating the life stories we want to fashion. And here, in these posts, (if I’ve still got your attention, ha, ha), I hope you find inspiration, delight, joy, and wonder. That’s what I want to share with you.

Choose what you share, and become more aware of what you are paying attention to.