Paying Attention

I’m trying to cause people to be interested in the particulars of their lives because I think that there’s one thing literature can do for us. It can say to us: pay attention. Pay closer attention.
— Richard Ford

Today’s prompt: Write what you five senses are picking up right at this moment. Keep it simple. You don’t have to write down thoughts are feelings – just the specific details of sound, touch, smell, taste, and what you see. Years from now those simple, specific details will bring back this moment to you.

As I sit here listening to the rain, my fingers tapping this out, I take a minute to become aware of what each of my five senses are picking out at this moment.

The lovely sound of rain outside and the whirr of the fan inside.

My fingers touching the keyboard — I usually write in longhand, pen and paper- but tonight I’ve chosen to type instead. My forearms touching the laptop and the table, I become aware of the pressure I’m exerting on them. My buttocks on the chair and I feel slight twinge in my back. My feet are firmly planted on the ground.

Eyes are focused on this page, watching the letters appear somewhat magically on the screen!

I smell the rain as I inhale, becoming aware too that I haven’t taken a deep breath for a while!

And I can still taste that slice of bottled peach that I had as dessert — it was delicious.

Writing this makes me realise how often I ignore my senses when I write.

Today’s prompt urged me to pay attention and focus on my senses.

Try this exercise. You’ll learn something about yourself. I did.

Some background info:

I’ve been writing here every day since 15 August 2022 — a five minute write in response to a prompt from the book, Kicking In The Wall, as a 100 Day Writing Challenge to myself. I write in a notebook the night before and publish it the next day – so that might explain references to pen, paper, night etc )