Have you looked around, lately?
WASHINGTON—In an effort to combat what organizers are calling “our current epidemic of complete and utter obliviousness,” the American Foundation for Paying Attention to Things has declared December “National Awareness Month.”
“All across the country, millions of men and women are dangerously unaware,” AFPAT spokesperson Karen Teeling said during a press conference Monday. “What’s worse, the vast majority of those suffering from this debilitating state of mind don’t even know it.”
This is an event that all questors after virtue should support and participate in as much as possible. After all, just plain being aware of the real world, as it actually is, is the first action of prudence, and the foundation of all the other virutes!
Prudence: the foundation of the virtues
Prudence, in the classical sense, is not the sort of self-serving hemming and hawing one does to avoid difficulty; nor is it the greedy cleverness that enables one to get away with unacceptable activities. Rather,as Josef Pieper puts it, it is “the perfected ability to make right decisions.”
In order to make right decisions, a person needs several things:
- Intelligence: that is, the ability to perceive and understand reality
- Memory: the ability to accurately hold one’s knowledge in mind
- Docility, or Teachability: openness to the experience of others
- Cleverness: clarity and quick-wittedness in the face of the unexpected
- Rational foresight: the ability to draw correct conclusions from what is known
- Circumspection: not the ability to keep a secret, but the awareness of how circumstances affect the means used to achieve one’s goal
- Caution: awareness of dangers and evils involved in a situation
Oi! That’s a lot to hold on to. But it all really boils down to two things: First, awareness of reality; and second, the ability to draw conclusions about one’s actions.
How I became more aware of the world
A few years ago, I literally fell asleep at the wheel and crashed into the car in front of me. Thankfully, no one was hurt, but I realized that I couldn’t let myself drift off again. I had to take a fresh look at my own behavior and at my impact (so to speak) on the world around me.
I had to learn to take seriously that first action of prudence: I had to open my eyes and look around me. I had to become more aware.
I did this by taking some time to think about each day before I entered the rush and race of it all. One of the first things I realized was that I wasn’t getting enough sleep, so I had to take some time from my evenings to go to bed earlier. I still struggle with this: I feel like I have so many things left undone, I don’t have time to look around or take stock of the world around me.
The truth is, though, that I don’t have time not to take stock of what’s going on around me – and within me. Maybe I really should take the month of December to practice a little more awareness of my surroundings.
Recent Comments