{"id":5242,"date":"2017-07-12T09:48:34","date_gmt":"2017-07-12T16:48:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/?p=5242"},"modified":"2017-07-12T13:19:07","modified_gmt":"2017-07-12T20:19:07","slug":"july-12-2017-hard-focus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/life-stories\/july-12-2017-hard-focus\/","title":{"rendered":"July 12, 2017 – When it’s hard to focus"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n \n \"Fb-Button\"\n <\/a>\n <\/div>
<\/fb:like><\/div><\/div>
\"\"<\/a>

Some of the light and color that caught my eye on our trip.<\/p><\/div>\n

Joe and I have been back a week and a half from a rich and full trip to Paris and several places in Italy with my family.\u00a0 Since coming home life has been full \u2013 working with Carla, our bookkeeper, Fourth of July activities, getting everything out of the kitchen for the start of a remodel, dealing with a front yard that is infested with fleas (!) and<\/em> preparing for and teaching a color workshop last weekend – on top of my regular groups.\u00a0 Plus \u2013 there has been the jet lag.\u00a0 I usually have no problem coming west, but I\u2019ve been just done<\/em> every evening since we flew home \u2013 though it\u2019s been just 7pm, it may as well have been midnight for as tired as I am.\u00a0 This has meant that I\u2019ve barely painted since a few days before we left on June 22.\u00a0 I\u2019ve not gone three weeks without painting in so long I can\u2019t remember \u2013 I know it has been years.<\/p>\n

Spending time in my studio making art has become part of what makes me feel like me.\u00a0 And even though this is the case, it\u2019s still<\/em> easy for me to be pulled away from it.\u00a0 I look at my studio \u2013 which has become a dumping ground for everything that I don\u2019t know what to do with \u2013 as we\u2019ve made the dining room into a temporary kitchen\/pantry \u2013 and I wistfully imagine myself sitting at my painting table, listening to music and working the colors on the paper to make something come through.\u00a0 Why can\u2019t I get myself to get in there and paint?<\/p>\n

Yesterday morning I read last Friday\u2019s Painter\u2019s Keys post.\u00a0 Sara told a story about Warren Buffett and Bill Gates.\u00a0 They were asked independently if there was one single word that described what helped them the most in their lives.\u00a0 They both came up with the same word: focus.\u00a0 Focus<\/em>.\u00a0 Yes, I can see how letting all distractions fall away, or ignoring them, or operating in the face of them towards a singular aim would contribute to mastery, to one\u2019s success.\u00a0 As I then hiked up the hill with Bo, I pondered what focusing is for me \u2013 it is necessary that I focus in the process of painting, but I also need to focus in order to organize and commit to the act of painting.\u00a0 If I am to paint, I must look away from email, clear the clutter in my space, get out my palette and put clean water in my container \u2013 brushes, paint, image. Go.<\/p>\n

Yet, things clamor for my attention and it\u2019s so easy for that focus to evaporate.\u00a0 A few more paces up the hill, I remind myself I am a feminine-oriented being – and we don\u2019t have the natural ability<\/em> to focus as much as masculine-oriented beings do.\u00a0 Biologically we are still<\/em> the gatherers.\u00a0 Hunters are wired to keep their attention trained on the deer.\u00a0 They aren\u2019t just ignoring \u2013 it goes further – they have the capacity to not even take in<\/em> what is occurring peripherally \u2013 as if it weren\u2019t even happening.<\/p>\n

Gatherers, on the other hand, have brains that are made to mind the little ones, dig roots, collect the ripe berries all the while keeping an ear out for predators.\u00a0 I had the thought that if indeed what it takes to become a Bill Gates or a Warren Buffett is focus<\/em>, then it\u2019s no accident they are both males \u2013 both hunters.\u00a0 It\u2019s no wonder then that feminine people don\u2019t wield nearly as much influence in the material world.\u00a0 A part of me doesn\u2019t know whether to feel relieved \u2013 as it is<\/em> so hard because I\u2019m not made<\/em> to easily focus – or if I should be depressed that gatherers may never have their influence, unless how we are wired changes.<\/p>\n

(I feel compelled to remind you that I don\u2019t mean all<\/em> men and all<\/em> women in what I\u2019m saying here. Everyone knows men who have a hard time focusing and women who seem to quite easily \u2013 I was born to one.\u00a0 Still, the majority of women are innately feminine and most men operate from the masculine. On top of this how we see and express gender is exploding which blurs the differences.\u00a0 Nevertheless, regardless of biological gender, these ways of operating are real and I find it helpful to see their distinctions.)<\/p>\n

It is my deep belief that the theme for the life I\u2019m living this go round is to seek balance and harmony between the masculine and the feminine – both within myself and in my relationships with others.\u00a0 Until fairly recently, I\u2019ve lived my adult life in a way that was more masculine (active, goal-oriented, practical, efficient), than meets with my innate rhythms.\u00a0 In the last seven years I\u2019ve learned about what it means to be and live from the feminine.\u00a0 I have experienced a shift in both what it feels<\/em> like to be me, and in how I operate<\/em>.\u00a0 I do<\/em> focus less readily on tasks, but I also intuit a whole lot more and see patterns and connections.\u00a0 And I feel people and situations more deeply. And what is most visible to my outer world is that my tuner has been reset – to pick up light, color and beauty.<\/p>\n

Sara Genn\u2019s post revealed something else about Warren Buffett.\u00a0 She quotes him as saying:\u00a0 \u201cI can\u2019t tell you the color of the walls in my bedroom or my living room, I don\u2019t have a mind that relates to the physical universe well.\u201d\u00a0 We cannot be everything.\u00a0 Warren Buffett is Warren Buffet because he\u2019s not distracted from his pursuits \u2013 from his focus – by his physical surroundings.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m (slowly) learning that life goes better when we lean into who we are.\u00a0 Which leads to something else she quoted Warren Buffett as saying:\u00a0 Warren says he focuses on his \u201ccircle of competence.\u201d\u00a0 He says \u201cI don\u2019t worry about things that are outside that circle.\u201d\u00a0 We don\u2019t think about it this way, but what if seeing beauty, feeling deeply, sensing the infinite \u2013 what if being feminine<\/em> is a \u201ccompetence?\u201d\u00a0 What if our future needs for more of us to focus on the feminine circle of competence<\/em> – instead of just getting more done<\/em> (which for me even includes making more paintings)?<\/p>\n

Two people who are viewed as highly successful each identified focus<\/em> as the quality that helped them amass gigantic financial wealth and power.\u00a0 And<\/em> we admire them because they use their wealth and power to care for those who suffer and are in need.\u00a0 Most of us will never amass their billions.\u00a0 But we can still do what is ours to do \u2013 we can live our own<\/em> lives, using whatever capacity we have to focus on our sweet spots.\u00a0 I see today this is my expanding feminine circle of competence.\u00a0 I will continue to garner my limited capacity to focus, to pull myself away from the distractions that keep me from painting.\u00a0 And<\/em>, I remind myself that for me art-making happens in the context of a lifetime that is up to something else \u2013 one that is about endeavoring to bring beauty and understanding and love \u2013 to the extent that one person can.<\/p>\n

With my love for you –<\/p>\n

Cara<\/p>\n ","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Joe and I have been back a week and a half from a rich and full trip to Paris and several places in Italy with my family.\u00a0 Since coming home life has been full \u2013 working with Carla, our bookkeeper, Fourth of July activities, getting everything out of the kitchen for the start of a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[29],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5242","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-life-stories"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nJuly 12, 2017 - When it's hard to focus - Life in Full Color<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/life-stories\/july-12-2017-hard-focus\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"July 12, 2017 - When it's hard to focus - Life in Full Color\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Joe and I have been back a week and a half from a rich and full trip to Paris and several places in Italy with my family.\u00a0 Since coming home life has been full \u2013 working with Carla, our bookkeeper, Fourth of July activities, getting everything out of the kitchen for the start of a […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/life-stories\/july-12-2017-hard-focus\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Life in Full Color\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-07-12T16:48:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-07-12T20:19:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/europe-2017.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Cara\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Cara\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/life-stories\/july-12-2017-hard-focus\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/life-stories\/july-12-2017-hard-focus\/\",\"name\":\"July 12, 2017 - When it's hard to focus - Life in Full Color\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/life-stories\/july-12-2017-hard-focus\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/life-stories\/july-12-2017-hard-focus\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/europe-2017.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-07-12T16:48:34+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-07-12T20:19:07+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/#\/schema\/person\/d797aedc34742442251ceb8fef7ff393\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/life-stories\/july-12-2017-hard-focus\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/life-stories\/july-12-2017-hard-focus\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/life-stories\/july-12-2017-hard-focus\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/europe-2017.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/europe-2017.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/life-stories\/july-12-2017-hard-focus\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"July 12, 2017 – When it’s hard to focus\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/\",\"name\":\"Life in Full Color\",\"description\":\"Watercolors by Cara Brown\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/#\/schema\/person\/d797aedc34742442251ceb8fef7ff393\",\"name\":\"Cara\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c6f3732b38fdc958366cca34fe90f54746a926a829fe1f8d64ceebfb3ac46752?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c6f3732b38fdc958366cca34fe90f54746a926a829fe1f8d64ceebfb3ac46752?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Cara\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/author\/cara\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"July 12, 2017 - When it's hard to focus - Life in Full Color","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/life-stories\/july-12-2017-hard-focus\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"July 12, 2017 - When it's hard to focus - Life in Full Color","og_description":"Joe and I have been back a week and a half from a rich and full trip to Paris and several places in Italy with my family.\u00a0 Since coming home life has been full \u2013 working with Carla, our bookkeeper, Fourth of July activities, getting everything out of the kitchen for the start of a […]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/life-stories\/july-12-2017-hard-focus\/","og_site_name":"Life in Full Color","article_published_time":"2017-07-12T16:48:34+00:00","article_modified_time":"2017-07-12T20:19:07+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/europe-2017.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"Cara","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Cara","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/life-stories\/july-12-2017-hard-focus\/","url":"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/life-stories\/july-12-2017-hard-focus\/","name":"July 12, 2017 - When it's hard to focus - Life in Full Color","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/life-stories\/july-12-2017-hard-focus\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/life-stories\/july-12-2017-hard-focus\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/europe-2017.jpg","datePublished":"2017-07-12T16:48:34+00:00","dateModified":"2017-07-12T20:19:07+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/#\/schema\/person\/d797aedc34742442251ceb8fef7ff393"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/life-stories\/july-12-2017-hard-focus\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/life-stories\/july-12-2017-hard-focus\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/life-stories\/july-12-2017-hard-focus\/#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/europe-2017.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/europe-2017.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/life-stories\/july-12-2017-hard-focus\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"July 12, 2017 – When it’s hard to focus"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/","name":"Life in Full Color","description":"Watercolors by Cara Brown","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/#\/schema\/person\/d797aedc34742442251ceb8fef7ff393","name":"Cara","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c6f3732b38fdc958366cca34fe90f54746a926a829fe1f8d64ceebfb3ac46752?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c6f3732b38fdc958366cca34fe90f54746a926a829fe1f8d64ceebfb3ac46752?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Cara"},"url":"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/author\/cara\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1uJKT-1my","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5242","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5242"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5242\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5249,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5242\/revisions\/5249"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5242"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5242"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5242"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<!-- WP Super Cache is installed but broken. The constant WPCACHEHOME must be set in the file wp-config.php and point at the WP Super Cache plugin directory. -->