This post is by guest author, Jo Allebach.  This article has been edited and published with the author's permission. You should submit an article and share your views as a guest author by clicking here.  We've promoted this post to feature status because it provides great value to the FineArtViews community.  If you want your blog posts listed in the FineArtViews newsletter with the possibility of being republished to our 14,000+ subscribers,consider blogging with FASO Artist Websites.  This author's views are entirely her own and may not always reflect the views of BoldBrush, Inc.

What is the purpose of this blog stuff? Is it to get across some interesting information? Is it to relate some profound ideas about art or the world? Is it to make people laugh or cry or emote nothing?

I decided to research about blogs and found, to my chagrin, that a blog (web log) can be nearly anything you want it to be. So, I have to have ideas, right? After searching around in various places, I discovered that blogging was like anything else, it needed attention. It just so happens that I have been thinking about “attention” the past couple days.

I have had a saying on my car dash for a while and just recently changed it to All the power is in the attention we give -  In the original context, it was talking about how negative things in our minds can become overpowering if we concentrate on them. By taking away the attention, the power of the craving or fear or such is diminished, if not taken away completely. I think it also applies to positive power when giving attention to something. By paying attention and being in the now, the best results will manifest.

Focused energy is power and it’s the difference between success and failure.

When I am totally absorbed with my full attention, my paintings seem to magically and successfully appear. 

By giving full attention to one thing at a time, we can learn to direct attention where we choose.  - Eknath Easwaran

Any man who can drive safely while kissing a pretty girl is simply not giving the kiss the attention it deserves. - Albert Einstein