“…The Power of
Concentration.” (and, the littlest bit of sparkle).
December, another month of bad
news and darkness all around us. It feels like the song of the season. Darkness is not just about light, it’s also
about weight. And these are heavy days.
As I look back on a fraught year,
I see that, more often than not, I’ve sided with the poet who wrote “How bright
a light there must be to cast so dark a shadow.” Little domestic moments are my
sun; I revolve around friends who see through me (“blogging is just your hobby,
your job is being annoying”) and yet, in their tough love way, cherish me. I
see the compromises so many people must make to hang on; I’ve been lucky enough
to have quiet days and doing challenging, satisfying work. And, far from least,
there are our blogs. I loathe message
boards they attract trolls and troublemakers but I love the exchanges I have
with some of you. You encourage me, prod me, correct me and, when I'm most
pressed, write posts for me. Thank you all. My cup runneth over.
So here, then, is my short, short, short reading list for the end of the
year:
It starts with Sherlock Holmes
smoking his pipe. “When a new case is presented, Holmes does nothing more than
sit back in his leather chair, close his eyes and put together his
long-fingered hands in an attitude that begs silence. He may be the most
inactive active detective out there. His approach to thought captures the very
thing that cognitive psychologists mean when they say mindfulness.” Defined
thus: Mindfulness is less about spirituality and more about concentration: the
ability to quiet your mind, focus your attention on the present, and dismiss
any distractions that come your way.
The implications are tantalizing.
Mindfulness may have a prophylactic effect: it can strengthen the areas that
are most susceptible to cognitive decline. When we learn to unitask, to think
more in line with Holmes’s detached approach, we may be doing more than
increasing our observational prowess. We may be investing in a sounder mental
future — no matter how old we are. The benefits-mental, physical,
vocational - are huge. You want them.
Take good care.
“Mastermind: How to Think Like
Sherlock Holmes”, will be published by Viking in January 2013.