To really grasp mindfulness, we first have to know what attention and peripheral awareness normally do. Each has a different function, and they provide two distinct kinds of information. But they also work together, and to respond intelligently to our environment, we need both. With this understanding, you will see how ordinary attention and awareness can become that optimal interaction we call mindfulness.

Attention has a very specific job. It picks out one object from the general field of conscious awareness, then analyzes and interprets that object. It’s the faculty of attention that helps us discern between conflicting pieces of information (e. g., is that a snake in the road, or just a piece of rope?). Once an object of attention has been identified and analyzed, it can be further examined, reflected on, judged, and responded to. In order for this process to happen quickly and effectively, attention turns all of its objects into concepts or abstract ideas—unless of course the object is already a concept or idea. Generally, attention translates our raw experience of the world into terms we can more easily understand, which we then organize into a picture of reality.

Peripheral awareness, on the other hand, works very differently. Instead of singling out one object for analysis, it involves a general awareness of everything our senses take in. Peripheral awareness is only minimally conceptual. It is open and inclusive, as well as holistic. That is, it’s concerned with the relationships of objects to each other, and to the whole. Peripheral awareness allows us to respond more effectively by giving us information about the background and context of our experience—where we are, what’s happening around us, what we’re doing and why (e. g., not mistaking the rope for a snake, since we’re in Alaska, and it’s winter). Attention analyzes experience, and peripheral awareness provides the context.