.
I almost never do two things at the same time.
When I’m engaged in an activity, my attention is entirely focused on it. I don’t make a conscious decision to
shut out everything else around me. I am completely absorbed by what
I am doing.
Time fades away; I draw for a long time,
until evening, until my body
reminds me that it exists.
I then step away from the drawing as one emerges
from a long dive.
It always takes the world a few moments to
find its place again.
Another activity begins.
I prepare the meal; I eat in silence.
Every flavour comes through in its entirety: a spice, a
texture, a warmth.
The meal now occupies my full attention.
The drawing has receded. I no longer keep
several experiences open at the same time.
I cannot divide my attention.
When it settles, it forms a single movement.
what is there takes up all the space.
Washing up, tidying, reading,
sleeping.
Each action is given the time that
belongs to it.
I move from one to the next. Each exists
separately, with its own intensity.
I can spend hours on a single drawing, without feeling the need to be anywhere else.
This absence of ‘elsewhere’ also exists in
everyday actions: washing a plate, reading a
page, eating, tidying up.
I do not measure my days in hours; I
measure them in depth.
This depth does not come solely from
duration. It comes from the complete concentration of
attention on a single point.
In drawing, this indivisibility becomes visible.
A shape appears. I follow it. Another shape responds to it. My attention remains absorbed in what is
taking shape.
Nothing else comes to take its place.
Then I put down the pencil.
My attention detaches itself from what had been occupying it.
Another action can then capture it entirely.
Find out more about Juliette Savaëte on her official website: www.juliettesavaete.fr
