The fabric of who we are is woven together — moment after moment — by us placing one thing above all else.

Attending now to this thing, not another.

And then to these things, but not other things.

How beautiful that in some instances, the thing that is of utmost importance — beyond all the personal and universal challenges — is listening to a friend. Or making a photograph. Or washing a cup. Or singing.

Or reading a reflection such as this.

The inevitable peaks and valleys give character to our story, but it’s the ongoing rhythm of our attention — what we choose to notice, above all else — that shapes the contours of who we become.