The Art of Concentration

The other day  I decided to try and paint again after my stretch off caused by my accident. A friend said jokingly that his would be something worth watching. I set up my laptop in front of my easel connected to my friend’s computer and began to work. My friend was able to watch or not and I was not aware of whether I was being watched, or if I was working on my own. It was an interesting experience and I was able to work without ever really thinking about being watched.


After I had decided to stop for the day, because the pain was beginning to return to the point of being unbearable my friend commented on my intensity of concentration. My friend on the other hand tells me that such concentration for her is not possible. When she paints she tells me her mind flits from one thought to another. Different strokes for different folks I guess. What surprised me was when she pointed out the time. I had painted non stop from eleven in the morning till three in the afternoon. I was sure that I had only been at it for about just over an hour.

This has brought me much pleasure in the last few days to realise that I was once again capable of this level of concentration. I would hate never to paint again but even more I would hate to lose the ability to give my mind solely to the task in hand. I have spent many years trying to develop this skill and I hope it is the last one to leave me. The trouble is you, see my head is so full of things buzzing around like a hive of bees all demanding my attention that I have had to learn how to filter them all out and be selective in my thoughts when doing something I consider important. Maybe that is why I keep sitting on spectacles or on the other hand searching for them only to realise I have them on. Maybe also that is why I sometimes come upstairs and wonder why I did. It has nothing at all to do with my aging process. Now that does make me feel good. But who am I kidding here?

There is the lovely story of the Zen master who possessed the ability to concentrate so hard that his students were a bit afraid of him. He seemed to be unruffled by anything. One day they thought they would try and bring him back into their realm of concentration. They all hid in the cloisters of the monastery and waited on him walking past. Soon he came carrying a cup of precious tea. As he passed they all jumped out yelling and shouting. He never blinked and carried on till he reached the small table at the far end. Here he laid down his cup, leaned against the wall, and cried out in shock, “Ohhhhh!”

One thing at a time one thought at a moment and savour the moment and the thought. I have so many wonderful thoughts to savour from the comments you all make on my blog and the blogs I read. Thank you all.

This is the way of Tao.

This blog is linked to my other blog where I discuss the tale of this artwork:-Tiger Pause

Walking and Running

Spring brings thoughts of longer days and daylight runs. If you have ever gone running in the streets you will be aware of the many hazards that this activity brings with it. The unseen potholes ready to trip you up, the dogs that run at you and frighten the life out of you. Then there are those who either cannot run or choose not to run or who are too lazy to make the effort but still feel they have to shout comments at those who do. The favourite seems to be, “Keep on running.” It used to annoy me but no more. Now if they shout that at me I am just so happy that they notice I am not walking.


Hold that thought in your mind.

Every year the new intake of students where I taught would have heard enough about Mr. T. to know that he could take a joke, so there was always some who wanted to point out my white hair and their youth. My way of overcoming this was to lay down the challenge of a race, a short but hilly six miles. There was always the odd few who were foolish enough to try. One year was different. On my giving out the challenge a voice was heard to say, “Don’t be silly, he took my big brother out for a run and he was in bed for two days after it.”

Hold that thought in your mind.

I remember running with a very good athlete on a training run. As we ran he said, “This is lovely you should always run at a pace where it is still possible to hold a conversation.” I replied, “I hope you notice then that this is a one sided conversation.”

Hold that thought in your mind.

Now have you noticed what I have done? You are now trying to hold three thoughts in your head and wondering what one to think about first. You are now multi-tasking with the brain. I am sure you all know that multi-tasking is a female thing; men don’t do multi-tasking. So I am continually informed.

The Toa says when you walk, walk, when you run, then run. In other words, one thing at a time and that one thing to the best of your ability. Who am I to suggest that multi-tasking is not possible. But if something is to be done to the very best of ones ability it requires all of the thought process for that one action. If the artist is to produce a meaningful piece of art then it calls for the full interaction of the artist with the work in hand. Recently I was struggling with two paintings. A fellow artist said, “Lay one aside and just look at the one.” So simple but it worked both were soon completed. If this is true for the artist it is true for everything else in life. One thing at a time done well.

This is the way of the Tao.