# Pay attention Amy Krouse Rosenthal says, "For anyone trying to discern what to do with their life: pay attention to what you pay attention to. That's pretty much all the info you need." Psychologist William James says, "My experience is what I agree to attend to. Only those items which I notice shape my mind."[^1] Jessa Crispin says, "We give things meaning by paying attention to them."[^2] ![[Attention, taken to its highest degree —Simone Weil]] "When people look slowly ... they make discoveries," is the motto of the Slow Art movement.[^3] Austin Kleon says, "The ordinary plus extra attention equals the extraordinary."[^4] René Magritte said his goal was "to breath new life into the way we look at the ordinary things around us."[^5] [[Observe the little things]]. Anna Tivel says she's always trying to "move around in a writer's mind." From there, she feels inspired to create.[^6] [[Creativity is not all output—it's input too]]. ![[Make art out of the everyday and ordinary]] ![[Our sense of enchantment is not triggered only by grand things —Katherine May]] One way to pay attention is by [[Drawing]]. Another is through journaling and rereading entries.[^7] The [[Lynda Barry journal method]] is helpful. ![[To pay attention, this is our endless and proper work —Mary Oliver]] ![[Attention is the most basic form of love]] ![[For the sake of a few lines one must see many cities —Rainer Maria Rilke]] ![[No, it does not take much, but it takes a sure eye —Mary Oliver]] ![[A writer's task is to steal from life]] ![[All the technique in the world doesn't compensate for the inability to notice]] [^1]: [[Keep Going]] pg. 114-115 [^2]: [[Keep Going]] pg. 118 [^3]: [[Keep Going]] pg. 107 [^4]: [[Keep Going]] pg. 98 [^5]: [[Keep Going]] pg. 105 [^6]: [The Working Songwriter: Anna Tivel](https://theworkingsongwriter.libsyn.com/anna-tivel) [^7]: [[Keep Going]] pg. 116