The beauty of focusing on process
Photo by Author
In my previous article I introduced to you a “telescope method” as an alternative to setting goals.
By “letting opportunity find me,” I ended up taking up on the very two things I had avoided before as the core of my life version. 2.0.
Today I will share with you another alternative: to focus on process.
Ikebana (Japanese art of flower arranging) and tea ceremony have something in common.
The finishing point is nothing climactic.
For Ikebana, it’s a completed arrangement. The flowers and branches wilt in a week or so. However beautiful you arranged, soon it disappears.
For tea ceremony, it’s simply a bowl of warm matcha green tea. One the guest finishes sipping, it disappears.
The practice has no end.
You continue to practice again and again. You continue to practice until you die, still you will never reach the goal, if the goal is the perfect mastery.
The whole purpose is to focus on the process.
Then why do you practice? You may ask.
For Ikebana, you start with an empty container. One by one you add flowers and branches, paying maximum attention to every stem and every leaf. You keep on adding until you call it good.
For tea ceremony, you start with cleaning the tearoom. One by one you bring in tea utensils, make tea, and you take down. You pay maximum attention to every movement. When the tearoom looks as empty as when you started, it’s over.
By repeating this practice, you come to understand two simple facts of life.
1. All you can control is your action.
All you can control is your action,series of actions, in other words, the process. By paying maximum attention to what you do every second, you enjoy the most profound experience while timepasses.
2. Every moment passes equally.
While you pay maximum attention every moment, you realize that each moment passes equally. It’s impossible to skip one moment and jump to the other. You realize that prioritizing one moment over the other is an illusion.
By practicing Ikebana and tea ceremony, I have realized the importance of focusing on the process. And focusing on the process has freed myself from worrying about the goals, which are merely the results of my series of action or the process.