Circles of Care | Sunlight Papers

On scaling attention

When we think of the many challenges facing our world, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. Closer to home, our list of projects can often seem endless, while our web of relationships, whether near or far, can always use more tending — not to mention our physical and emotional health! Given all of this complexity, how can we decide what to do? Circles of Care presents a simple framework for choosing how to direct your attention, given the many scales of reality that shape our experience of life from moment to moment.

Illustrated book coming soon — let me know

Circles of Care

On scaling attention

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Circles of CareA principle for scaling attention

Begin with your body:how does it feel —does it need movementa nap or a meal? Or does it feel restednourished and fitprepared for the actionsto which you’ll commit? 

Move on to your mind:what is its state —is it filled up with worriesand wishes and hates? Or does it feel emptysteady and clearready to welcomewhatever appears? 

Now to your home:do you love where you live —is it asking for somethingit needs you to give? Or does it feel cheerfulcozy and cleanproviding a shelterfor tending your dreams? 

Then to the peopleyou’ve chosen to love:do you fully accept themas more than enough? Do you meet them withhonesty, joy and respect —do you speak from the heartevery time you connect? 

Then to the workthat you do every day:do you come to it gladlyas if it were play? Do you put into practiceyour personal gifts —making improvementsand positive shifts? 

Then to the helpthat you give and receive:enlivening wishesand answering needs — nurturing peopleand projects and place,supporting the healthof our planet in space. 

And then to this curiousworld that we share:with its structures and systemsand circles of care — each of us playingour own little part,finding our medicinemessages, art. 

For what is this worldbut a series of lives,reflecting each otherwith myriad eyes? Each with their lensesand visions and views,each with the feelingof needing to choose. 

And what is this worldbut a story we tell ⁠—⁠a dream with no end,an alarm with no bell? To wake from the storyand see it as such,to swim in the dreamand savor the touch. 

These Circles of Carean invisible map⁠ —to help us awakenembody, adapt to the story of lifethat we choose to createand the world that emergesto which we relate. 

From body to mindto home and to loveto work and to helpbelow as above — these are the scalesof the story of you,this is the worldthat you call into view. 

For you’re in the worldand the world is in you —you make it, it makes you,it’s ancient, it’s new.

So what feels alive —most fertile and true?What are you sensingand what will you do?

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Made by hand by Jonathan J. Harris Published September 22, 2024