159: Focus

Lydia Leonard left this comment on my YouTube channel:

“I’ve been following you for years and always marvel at your genius! Moving walls? So smart! I sort of have the same thing but I have a hard time putting everything back where it belongs! I’ve been trying to reorganize but I get distracted by all the cool things I find. Do you have any focusing ideas to keep me motivated?“

Specific to her magpie issue, which is also an issue I have, is the notion of “future me.”  I do things for future me.

“Tomorrow me will love that this is all put away. Tomorrow me will be glad that I did this today.”

But I thought we could wander into a larger conversation about focus.  One of the tenets of my art practice is “consistency.”  I think consistency and focus are deeply intertwined.

• Focus is a point of concentration. 2. : directed attention : emphasis.   
• Consistency is conformity in the application of something, typically that which is necessary for the sake of logic, accuracy, or fairness. 

Consistency is running a steady 6 minute mile during a marathon.  Focus is thinking about your breathing, the finish line, how your body is moving.

All of that is to say that focus is part of consistency and consistency requires focus. On the podcast, we talk about why focus matters to an artist.