E 230 Focal Practices

Focal Practices

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Hello, it's great to be with you. Today we're talking about focal practices. And the idea of focal practices comes from the philosopher Albert Borgman. He describes the importance of having practices that are rooted in four key areas. Attention. Creativity, embodiment and connection. And he goes on to say that as we all enjoy the conveniences of our modern lives, we can experience the opposite of those things, right?

Disconnection, disembodiment, distraction. And so without intentionally cultivating focal practices, we can lose touch with quote, the good life as he calls it. That which gives us richness and fullness of life. So to give some examples, he said, instead of just streaming music, there's a difference between that and listening to live music or even playing music would be an example of a focal practice because it goes from a passive thing we do into an intentional one that creates more connection and embodiment, et cetera.

Or instead of just scrolling online, [00:01:00] talking to our neighbors in real life. And I wanna be clear that he's not anti-technology or against modern conveniences, but he does state that without intentionally building in focal practices, that we can miss out on some depth. And I certainly resonate with some of what he says and he gives lots of examples of focal practices and how to engage that we can dive into in a few minutes.

But before we look at that, I want to share another perspective from a historian. His name is Daniel Immerwahr and I actually heard him on the Rethinking Podcast recently and he had some very interesting historical observations. So he noted that in the 18th century, people were concerned about of all thing novels reading novels becoming a problem and taking people away from their lives.

Particularly in religious context. Priests were concerned that women were gonna start reading novels and it was gonna be a distraction to them. And so now we think reading a novel feels like a luxury, right? It would be a way to engage in a slow pace or a [00:02:00] focal practice. But a few centuries ago novels reading a novel felt like a threat.

Same thing with the piano Forte. That was the original name of what we would now call a piano. And when this was becoming popular, people began purchasing piano fortes for their homes. And so there was a lot of concern about people spending too much time playing the piano and thus distracting them from their actual lives.

And again, I think to sit down in our 21st century to play the piano feels like a beautiful luxury, right? How many of us on a given day engage with music in a particular music app or streaming versus sitting down to a piano to enjoy live music or to play it ourselves? And so I say all of this because I think that the conversation around focus, presence, connection, it's not new.

It's been going on for centuries. And before I turn it over to Chris, I just wanna give one more historical context that I thought was just so striking, and it was in 1843. The author, Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote an essay and he was talking about a generation who will never have real [00:03:00] conversations. They're gonna be in their own separate corners.

They're not gonna know how to talk to anyone, they're just gonna become gossips. And as you read this, you think, wow, that sounds like somebody maybe talking about this generation with our phones. And it was just like humorous that the threat that he thought was gonna be like the end of all human connection was actually the stove replacing the open heart.

And so his point was if we aren't building fires in a fireplace anymore and gathering to keep warm from a central singular heat source, we're all gonna be lost. We're gonna be disconnected. And so as humorous as that sounds for me in my context, I just think, okay, this idea of focus and attention has been recycled throughout time.

And so I definitely come into this conversation very curious about what it means to be a learner on this journey. And I think I have definitely felt like, oh, but our problems are so different nowadays and, our access to social media and the internet and AI. And yet when I look at some of this historical context, we're not that different after all.

[00:04:00] So Chris, as I say this long introduction, I wonder what's coming up for you.

Wow, there's so much to unpack there. I'm struck by so many words, that you used in, in talking about these focal practices. And I think, know, attention or intention would be a word that I think is super important. Creativity, embodiment, connection, and. I think as I think about, what you're describing I think in the historical context and now some of the things that come to mind are some of these technologies or creation.

Some of it was for, to make our lives easier, to make our lives more leisurely. There could be many different aspects to these new things, these new technologies that come out. And I just think with anything, whenever something new [00:05:00] arises there's a gravitational pull to those things.

And I think it takes several. Years of introducing something into society before people were like, okay, how do we get a handle on this? How do we make this thing that makes us either productive or makes life so much easier for us? How do we stay connected? Thinking about , the washing machine, the introduction of the washing machine in the home. I think it was a beautiful tool for families. But I also think about what was it like for women to gather around the wash tubs and this connectedness that happened with that, anytime you can do something by yourself.

Technology allows you to accomplish something by yourself that's a very productive and good thing. But sometimes I think, oh wait, what did this take me away from? And I think a lot of [00:06:00] our introductions to, of new technologies, new things can make our lives better. It could be beneficial, but I think sometimes in a way is it could take us away from ways that we connect with others.

So that's one thing that really comes up for me as you talk about focal practices. 

Yeah, and I really appreciate these two men coming from very different angles, and I think it brings up a lot of thoughts in my mind. I think going back to Albert Borgman that I mentioned at the beginning, his idea of focal practices aren't just hobbies or things to do.

They're these anchors that gather. Body, mind, community, and tradition, right? They're practiced regularly and they restore depth and presence. And so for him, again, playing the piano would be a focal practice. Or gathering around and writing something. For example, like writing a novel, reading a novel that would be a focal practice for him.

Whereas our historian Immerwahr, brings up this totally different thing of almost like the, I don't know, the levels of what we [00:07:00] focus on, right? Is this gonna be junk food for us? As opposed to, I think we can look back at olden day practices and that seems like we, we look at it from a nostalgic lens, right?

And even for me, if I'm thinking about a modern day focal practice, I go back a little bit of for example, writing something down, handwriting something. Feels different than me, than doing a voice to text on my phone, on my note app, right? If I'm journaling something, both are great. Both capture what I'm trying to do, but it's a different sort of space that I'm in when I am journaling out some different ideas versus voice to detecting it.

And then even a step further is if I journal some of that stuff and then maybe I. Add some art or some color or something to that to go even deeper in that. And so I do think that there's something of value and importance in that sort of a thing. But also I think it's interesting as we're looking at some of these historians and what was a threat to them, and again, for me, my perceived threats in this century of what's taking me away from and.

To your point, Chris, [00:08:00] in, 10, 20 years, a hundred years, whatever, are we gonna look back at some of my things that I think are a threat or taking people away and think, oh my gosh, that was a wonderful way to connect and, social media, video games, ai, whatever it is that I might think of in that context and other folks thinking actually that was a beautiful thing.

And I nostalgically think back about those years, those yonder years. So that's a couple of things that come up for me. 

And I think one of the words that you used depth, I really like that word. Can focal practices lead us to something that is deeper and richer? And, I'm thinking of there are several people in my family that are musicians and we, we play instruments together sometimes.

But a lot of times it's, I'm playing my instrument and then somebody will play their instrument in their room. But I really like it when we come together and it's oh, I liked that. I liked that song. Let's play that together. And I think the same is true of, we have a streaming service for music.

We can track down songs, [00:09:00] if we watch a movie or something and it has a beautiful piece, or, we hear a commercial that has a good song in it, we can track down that song. But one of the, one of the things that has been a great practice for our family is actually a record player.

, We have the practice of actually going in record stores. Me and my daughter looking at different records and then. I think whenever we're all in the living room together. I noticed that I really like when we're all in the living room together and I get an album and I have the cover.

And I'm talking about like just the different music. It, there's a depth to it that is different from just streaming the music. And I found a record from my childhood. That I shared with my family this week, and it had it had a richness for me, but my family didn't understand like, okay, what's so great about that record?

But then we watched the movie [00:10:00] together. And then we sat and we listened to the record together as a family again, and it had much more depth to it and meaning. So I think just the intentionality around our practices that can lead to a deeper richness is something that strikes me in these focal practices.

And I think for me too, I might push back a little bit on, I think for me, because I'm not a musician, that's not my go-to thing. And so for me, streaming music is actually very engaging and it's how I. Like to engage with that particular medium. And music is important when I'm doing things or connecting with people or even just as background.

I think, and again, it's easy for me to think, wow, a piano forte or the stove as threats to society, but I get where they're coming from. 'Cause again, to your point, it was new. And how do we integrate these things into our lives in a way that does help us to feel embodied and connected and engaged and deep in those sorts of things.

But I think also life can just be a grind. And so I love that. These things were distracting people from their everyday life. That, [00:11:00] and again, it was particularly women with novels back, with this particular essay. And I'm glad that women could take a break from, to your point, the washboards and some of the things that were traditional back then that the females in the household did to be able to escape for a little bit in a book.

And then to go back a little bit refreshed from that. Or for people to not have to just be out in the fields all the time, but to have some respite and to be able to play beautiful music and to engage in the world that way. Because I think we can get so hyper-focused on our work and that can become the end all, be all, and we have nothing left.

And so I do think that there is some importance to giving ourselves a physical break or a mental break to some of those things. And, I think in some of the ancient scriptures we see. Things like, Sabbath, where we're unplugging intentionally from our productivity, our work for a day, or those sabbatical years where for a year, we're unplugging or disengaging from the land, having to be productive all the time.

All the time producing. And so again, even in my. Lifetime, some of these [00:12:00] conveniences that we have, I don't have to be productive all the time. I think there is something to be said about, it can get a bad rep of, I just wanna veg out or something like that. But I think there is something that's important that my mind is engaged.

All the time, every day in some intense ways. And so to be able to give my mind a break and to have something that's quote unquote mindless or helps me to decompress, I think is important in our modern day society too. And I am, I'm mentoring this conversation again, just wrestling with some of these things of, on the one hand I am drawn to these concepts of depth and connection and richness.

And on the other hand, I do see that there's something about my. New York Times crossword puzzle on my phone. I don't get out paper and pencil and do a whole, old fashioned, crossword puzzle. That would feel cumbersome to me. But a quick little thing on my phone, there's actually something to that, that, that feels really helpful and refreshing.

Oh, certainly. Yeah. No pushback. I think we're all different. We all have different ways of engaging and [00:13:00] connecting and yesterday we were at a store and I. Was struck by as we were leaving the store. We live in an area in Wisconsin that, there are different communities around, and there was like an Amish there were a few Amish men actually walking into the store.

And it reminded me of whenever I had seen a, an Amish barn raising and just seeing 20 to the 30 men, all like r raising and this barn. And they were all u using sauce together, old fashioned tools. And I just, I remember seeing it, I remember seeing the joy in it that they were raising this barn for another member of the community.

And I think for them that is. Intentional connectedness. Even though that they could probably use saws, they could probably use modern hand tools to complete the task. But it was more than just the task. There was a connectedness to it. And so I think it could be both. I think yes, [00:14:00] for I think some of the things you're saying could be, what brings you energy or what brings you life? What are ways that you can decrease your cortisol levels, if you will? You know what, whatever you need to do. But I, I think. This isn't a, this isn't a podcast about technology. I think we're talking about these focal practices that, help us to be more attentive, creative embodied and connected.

Yeah, I really appreciate the things that you've brought up. 

And I think for me too, it's an important reminder to your point, that different people are connected in different ways. And, our son's still young enough where kind of some of the online video gaming and that sort of thing hasn't really been part of our discussion.

But I know for a lot of teenagers, there's parents that are on both sides, of that's. That's distracting. I want my kids to do more, quote unquote, productive or a better focus of their time. And other ones are like, no, it's great. They're connecting with their cousins who live in a different state and it's their way of socializing and there's nothing wrong with that.

And so I think again, come with a lot of questions today. I think I'm [00:15:00] still trying to figure out what this. Means. And I think for me too somehow sitting down to read a novel in one of the classics feels different to me than doom scrolling or watching cat videos for an hour, right?

Like the, it's a different quality of time that's spent, but maybe cat videos for 10 minutes is appropriate, or maybe it is appropriate to watch cat videos for an hour because you're just going through a lot right now and that's just really soothing to you. And who am I to judge?

But I think for my own life, I think these sort of differing opinions and views on. This has been going on for centuries that we've had these conversations. And I think I remember one time in college reading an essay about kind of this generation and thinking that it was a modern day author talking about some of the disconnection and disembodiment and it was actually like Plato or Aristotle or somebody from like ancient Greece saying these things.

And so again, this idea of. There seems to be something within us as humans that really long for these things. And when something comes to pose a threat to that, again, there's this period of [00:16:00] rusting and what does that mean and how do we integrate to become those whole people that can, again, not throw out everything, I don't think I hear you Chris saying that you wanna be Amish now and we're getting rid of all your power tools, that we have in the garage, but I think there's a both and or again.

For the rest of my life I'm gonna have a phone or some iteration of that, right? That's just how our modern world operates. So we're not getting away from that. And yet within that, what's my comfort level in how I'm engaging with modern conveniences? What feels like that's a little bit of a threat to me and what feels like, again, this is great, and probably a century from now they're gonna look back and think that I was silly to think what I think about some of my engagements.

And so I think just really trying to come open heartedly, to this conversation.

I really appreciated what you just shared. And I think one of the feelings I have about, some of the pieces is what leads to, more peace, more connection and then, where do I notice myself? Being compulsive or my attention [00:17:00] being drawn away, and whenever I am caught up in something and I think there's, there are ways to get caught up in something that are good.

Like I got caught up in the spirit of that and I felt like I had all the time in the world. Then there are times when I got caught up in something and I feel guilt about it. It's oh, I just wasted so much time. And so just knowing the difference between those two, getting caught up in a way that is life giving, that is embodied, that is present, that is connected, that is creative.

Yeah, I think that's good. I like what you're saying, Chris, about what is life giving and really leaning into those things.

So anyway, thank you so much for joining us in our real life processing conversation around focal practices and what it means to engage in that in the 21st century.

 And now is the part of the podcast where we take a moment to talk about what we are into. So what are we into?

I am [00:18:00] into. Heirloom cherry tomatoes. Our garden is yielding a lot of fruit right now. So much so that I can give it away to neighbors, which I love to do. But I. I so surprised how one plant has yielded so much fruit and it's taken over the whole thing. So I am trying to figure out how do I prune this thing to where it can continue to b to to bear fruit and not stifle the growth of it.

So I'm into like gardening hacks with my tomato plants. 

I will testify that the tomato plants are quite robust and they are taking over the deck, which is lovely. I am in two farmer's markets in the summertime. We love going to farmer's markets and lately we've been traveling to different ones.

I think I may have talked about one on the podcast before, but this past Saturday we went to one that we haven't been to in a number of years and we had one of our relatives from out of town visiting and. [00:19:00] Loved it. We got our classic Stella's cheesy bread, which is this sweet and spicy kind of bread with cheese, all nestled inside with yummy goodness and just walking around and having fun and enjoying all the various farmer's markets.

We did that on Saturday and then Sunday we did our local one that we biked to a couple weeks ago we went to a different farmer's market with different vendors and so it's just fun to see the different bakeries and farmers and folks that show up food trucks to these different farmer's markets and to support locals.

So that is what I'm into. Thank you so much for joining us and until next time, make it a great week.