As It Appears: Possibility
On attention, interruption, and the quiet opening of choice
Reflections on presence, perception, and intuition
February 17, 2026
Possibility rarely announces itself.
It often arrives disguised as interruption—a canceled appointment, an injury, a delay, a line that refuses to become what I intended. At first, these moments feel like limits. The appointment seemed a sure path to a guaranteed goal, the injured limb was a crucial part in an athletic achievement, and the delayed transportation prevented an event that would have created lifetime memories forever robbed from your lifetime.
Something is removed. Something doesn’t work. The irritation gathers in my body, feeling solid and immovable. It feels right, just, and honest. Valid. It feels like there may be no easy solution.
And yet, I’ve begun to notice that when one path narrows, attention doesn’t disappear. It relocates. A sense of freedom and choice awakens.
And once I become aware of that, my breath deepens and possibility awakens. My world expands to increased options.
Perhaps what we often consider loss is not a prerequisite—but a rearrangement of attention. And that rearrangement allows our eyes to see much more than what was in once corner. Not quite limitless, but definitely more open.
Maybe it’s a matter of focus. When attention is diverted because it’s no longer warranted, where it’s directed shows new life.
Or conversely, maybe it’s focused attention in the same area. The line that struggled to become a lion weeks ago is now close to becoming a finished painting. Yet at one point, it looked more like a dog than a lion. What changed?
Perhaps when I inhabited the lion, his courage seeped in and imbued me with confidence. Or maybe I stopped stressing and just drew and painted as I imagined him. Or, could the line itself have moved? It took weeks and then one day I became aware I was no longer dissatisfied with the result.
Are these all random chances, or hard effort, or something in-between? And is the cause crucial? If I am honest with myself, I know if I am the cause, I approach my response differently.
I stop thinking about the reason for the new opening of possibility and breathe into the opening instead. It is there, in that new space of embodied awareness, I find fresh breath, my chest expands, my total body eases, and I admit to myself I don’t have the answer.
My breath still moves, just perhaps more slowly and less deeply. I allow myself to refocus on that breath that was new, fresh and expansive moments ago. Once I do, I’m again able to release the tension throughout my body.
I look again at the lion, questioning if the painting is finished, still unsure. Inhabiting this majestic creature once more, I sit in renewed peace with him. Sensing once again he is aware and tolerant of my presence, I stay present and feel empowered. To do what, I have no idea.
No clear direction enters my thoughts. Only peace and strength. So I sit with that. Again, I am reluctant to leave this majestic creature.
I leave him for the moment, knowing I can and will return. Leaving him now doesn’t end what he has awakened in me, although I haven’t fully articulated it yet.
