Fragment -- #231

[September 2003 journal entry]

I have come to think in terms of six ‘focusing’ experiences –

1. maintenance (e.g., personal health and hygiene, property repair, assisting others, garbage management),
   
2. personal relationships (e.g., marriage, parenting, extended family, friends, strangers, adversaries),
   
3. professional relationships,
4. creativity (e.g., photography for me),
   
5. observation (i.e., indiscriminate awareness of the full range of human conditions),
   
6. retreat (i.e., rest, meditation).
   

I prefer the ‘focusing’ metaphor to ‘quadrant’ or ‘sphere’ because these alternatives suggest too much compartmentalization, not enough simultaneity. A well-lived life integrates/balances these six ‘focus’ experiences in response to the specific circumstances in a situation that demand attention.