During 1978-79 Brian and I attended the fourth course at Claymont Court (http://www.claymontseminars.com/). It was one of a series of nine month courses at Claymont which had been initiated by John G. Bennett, who anchored it in the “Fourth Way” teachings of G.I. Gurdjieff. Our teacher was Pierre Elliot, and one of the first weekly themes he assigned to us was “noticing.” We spent a week contemplating that word as we went about our daily work, which was also underpinned by various inner exercises designed to help us to be fully present in the moment.

For some reason, this is one of the themes that stuck with me all of these years. Now I am mining it further. It seems to be the golden key for me right now, as I improve in my ability to sacrifice mental reverie for noticing the details around me, from the space of the Heart.

I also find that when I am focusing on noticing, I see things that need to be done that I otherwise may have missed. It increases my opportunity to be helpful.