Simone Weil wrote:
"Attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity."
I used to think gifts were things. Objects wrapped and given.
Now I understand: the most valuable gift you can give someone is your full attention.
The attention economy
We live in an economy where attention is currency.
Every app, every platform, every screen is designed to capture and keep your attention. The battle for your focus is constant and sophisticated.
In this context, attention has become scarce. We're all fragments of presence scattered across multiple demands.
And when attention is scarce, giving it becomes more valuable.
What full attention looks like
You know when you have someone's full attention:
They're not glancing at their phone. They're not scanning the room. They're not waiting for their turn to speak.
They're with you. Here. Now. Fully.
Their eyes are on you. Their body is oriented toward you. Their responses show they're actually hearing what you're saying.
This is increasingly rare. And increasingly precious.
The experience of receiving attention
When someone gives you their full attention, something shifts.
You feel more real. More solid. Like you exist more fully.
There's a reason therapy works. Part of it is the fifty minutes of undivided attention. Someone whose job is to focus on you, completely.
That attention itself is healing.
Why we don't give it
If attention is so valuable, why don't we give it more?
Distraction is easier. Full presence takes energy. Split attention is restful.
Vulnerability. When you're fully present, you're fully there. That means feeling what's in front of you. Some of what's in front of you is hard.
Habit. We've trained ourselves to fragment. The habit is hard to break.
FOMO. What if something more important is happening elsewhere? Full attention means missing the elsewhere.
The gift in practice
Giving attention is simple. Not easy—but simple.
Put the phone away. Not face-down on the table. Away.
Decide you're here. Not partially here, not mostly here. Fully here.
Let go of what you'll say next. Just be with what they're saying now.
Stay when your attention wants to wander. Bring it back. Again and again.
This is the practice: being here with someone. Completely.
The return on attention
The strange thing about giving attention:
You get more than you give.
When you're fully present with someone, you experience life more richly. You catch nuances. You feel connection. You remember the moment.
Fragment your attention and life blurs by. Give your attention fully and moments become vivid.
The gift isn't one-way.
Start small
You don't have to transform overnight.
Pick one conversation today. Put everything away. Be fully present for five minutes.
Notice how it feels. To give attention. To receive the other person's response to it.
That's the beginning.
Attention is the gift.
In a world fighting for your focus, freely giving it is an act of love.
You're reading these words. If you've made it this far, you've given me your attention.
Thank you.
Now—who will you give it to?