Attention is a feature of minds, wherein a mind can have awareness of lots of inputs (senses, internal thoughts, emotions, etc.) but dedicate most of its “thinking power” to only one or a few things from its awareness at a time.

(“Attention” is narrow; “awareness” is broad. You can be aware of the color of the wall next to you, even if you are not attending to it.)

What does attention do? Attention selects; attention shifts. You can switch from focusing on this sentence, to your breathing, a sound in the distance, the taste of your coffee, your plans for the day, the texture of your socks.

Shifting is not a bug; it is what attention is for. That is why we have it.

There is a rhythm to attention shifts. They can happen quicker or slower; and more or less suddenly. This rhythm differs from person to person, activity to activity, and with emotional and hormonal changes.

Some people are more aware of their attention shifts than others. Some people feel more control over their attention shifts than others. Some people’s attention shifts are more or less in tune with classrooms or offices or other environments that expect certain sorts of tight control.

Meditation allows us to notice and gently alter the parameters of attention.

Spontaneous attention shifts are important! If a loud bang and the smell of sulfur happen from the closet next to you, your attention will probably no longer be on reading this message. If a loved one bursts into the room weeping in despair, your attention will no longer be on reading this message. If the smell of baking pies drifts into the room, your attention will no longer be on reading this message. (At least, if you’re like me. Mmm, pies.)

Focus is also important. When someone “gets in the zone” they may not notice many things that otherwise would grab their attention. They might even fail to attend to the smell of pies; and the weeping loved one would take a little longer to grab them than otherwise.

Attention works along with self-awareness. Attention does the shifting; self-awareness creates the sense of continuity: even though you are sometimes reading and sometimes thinking about pie, you still have the sense that you are the same person. Even though there is not really any such thing as “a self” (q.v. anatta), it is pretty useful to remember that “you” have a body and that it is pretty similar to the body “you” had yesterday.