Redirection Here's another activity I practice, redirection. In the world of magicians it's called 'misdirection.' I don't like the negative connotation of that. I'd prefer to call it redirection. After all, there's no ill intent in performing a little magic for entertainment. Essentially, the practitioner draws the focus of his audience away from what he's really doing in order to execute a magic trick. For example, he may chatter on about something and gesture with his right hand, while his left hand is making the necessary exchange of coin or card or device to complete the illusion. So, in a way, the magic trick is being performed right before the audience's eyes, but they don't see it. They aren't watching closely enough or they aren't watching the right thing. If the magician has done his job right, he will have kept the focus away from the mechanics of the trick and thus the result of it will surprise his audience, seeming like magic. In a similar way, we can redirect our own attention, so that we experience what we're normally missing by keeping such an eagle eye on the physical world which we call reality. Some have also called this 'second attention', in contrast to the primary attention we use to function in our normal daily routine. We have all used redirection in some way. It's much like distracting a child's attention away from a sharp knife in their hand by offering a bright toy. Their attention shifts so we can remove the hazardous object without their protest. We are so grounded in our primary attention that we have to get around its protests to see the rest of reality which we cannot normally perceive with the five senses as we've been trained in this world. For more examples of redirection, consider some folks who normally stutter but have used the cadence of music or some other rhythm to redirect their primary attention and allow their words to flow more smoothly. It's a left-brain, right-brain trick to let one side help the other with the difficulty. With similar slight-of-hand, we can use our attention to let more of our subconsious mind enrich what our conscious mind experiences. We can drive down the highway with minimal attention on the act of driving, while our minds are buzzing away on some other thoughts or perhaps we're imagining something suggested from the radio or an audiobook. Sometimes we try and try to think of a name or word, but we just can't get to it right at that moment. Later, seemingly out of the blue, we will suddenly recall what we had searched for in frustration. This is because our primary attention went on to other areas while we worked to find the answer in the background. These things work because there is more to our brains, our minds, our spirits, than what we need to function in this physical world. We can get by with very little thought while performing routine tasks. Often times, a tedious activity will cause our minds to wander. We visualize another time, another place, other activities, while our bodies continue to perform some mundane task, like washing dishes or mowing the lawn. Surely you can see the value of this multi-channel functionality. We don't have to focus only on what is before us, physically, in this world, on this plane. We can use all this spare consciousness to do much more. Naturally there is a balance to be struck when you're performing mundane duties while trying to use your higher consciousness to work on something else. You know just how much primary attention is required to drive safely, but as long as you're cognizant of that, you have a lot of power in that mental engine to work on other more creative, pleasurable or productive thoughts. I find driving to be rather tedious and boring. If I have a long road trip to make, I absolutely must take some audiobooks with me to keep my mind engaged. Otherwise, I tire quickly and I'm in danger of falling asleep from the drone of the road. The radio isn't enough to distract me. I'm much better off listening to someone read a book to me so I can at least visualize the world the author has created or the concepts under discussion in non-fiction. Redirection can enhance your life, every minute of every day, even while you go about your required duties. Remember the song "Whistle While You Work"? Why do we so easily forget this little trick? We think that maybe the task has to be fun before we can have fun at it? This is not so. Everyone has tasks they don't like. Many things are necessary that aren't particularly fun, however, you can add fun to any task, anytime you wish. There are more ideas for this in the essay on Time. Whistle, hum, overdo the gestures, solve for your own answers to how the Universe works. Your mind and spirit are infinitely more complex than tedium so give the rest of you something enjoyable to think about while you work away. Redirection is also how you learn to see what cannot ordinarily be seen. If you are tightly focused on a person's face, their body, their hair and clothing, then you miss the soul in their eyes, their body language and telling gestures, and yes, their aura. Try to take your focus off the minute physical details and experience the whole person before you. Connect with them on more than physical assessment of their appearance or the sound of their voice. Hear what they're saying. Feel what they're telling you and how they're telling it. Interact with people and animals and nature, based on your intuition, your impressions and with compassion in your heart for the magic, the magnificence in all things. The physicality will slip away and you'll enjoy the richness, the vitality which you've been missing. Children know all about taking in the world for all that it is and they revel in the wonders around them. Yes, of course part of their fascination is that it's all new to them, but isn't it all new to us as well? We've learned to draw things down into specifics, to reduce life into facts and concrete terms. Undo that. Get back your youthful exuberance. Every moment of life is different from the last. If life feels repetitious and dull then it's because you've reduced your experiences by focusing too sharply on only a few details. Take a few mental steps to one side and change your perspective. Turn your attention a few degrees. Open your spirit. Redirect your concentration and see what is new and different. Most of what makes us bored with life is our insistence on framing everything in our past experience. This is not how it has to work. This is a choice we make. We can choose to redirect that energy, that focus, and arrive fresh at every experience. When you feel yourself thinking "Here we go again." then realize that you are judging the moment, even before it happens! Don't judge. Don't force your expectations of tedium onto a new moment. Doing so will indeed manifest as more drudgery. Instead, expect something new and exciting around every corner. You'll be amazed at how readily the Universe will redirect the energies to meet the challenge. (Redirection)

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