An Invitation to Attention

For when you want to pause, notice where you are and what is supporting you

This is a short expressive arts practice designed to help you pause and notice how you are, and what is supporting you, without needing to analyse, fix, or explain anything.

The practice begins with imagination and play, then moves toward a simple visual response that can help you sense what’s holding you in place right now. It’s less about finding answers, and more about offering attention to what’s already here.

You can use this practice when things feel unsettled, when you want to slow down, or when you simply want to notice.

---

Time & materials

Time:
10 minutes total

Materials:

• paper

• two colours (pens, pencils, markers, or crayons)

• pen or pencil for writing

Step-by-step

1) Set a timer for 10 minutes
When the timer ends, the practice ends.

2) Begin with a playful check-in.
Without overthinking, respond to the following questions. You can write single words, short phrases, or make small marks on the page.

• What colour are you today?

• If today had a texture, what would it be?

• If your current feeling were a landscape, what would it look like?

Let the responses come quickly. There are no right answers.

3) Choose one image to stay with
From what you’ve written or imagined, choose one — the colour, the texture, or the landscape — that feels most alive right now.

Using your first colour, begin to draw or mark this image on the page.
This can be abstract. It doesn’t need to look like anything specific.

4) Notice what’s holding the image
Pause and look at what you’ve made.

Ask gently:

• What allows this image to be here?

• What’s holding it, supporting it, or giving it ground right now?

Using your second colour, add a simple form, shape, or boundary that represents this support.

This might be:

• a line

• a base or ground

• a surrounding shape

• a frame

• a field of colour

Let it be simple and intuitive.

5) Name what you have
Without overthinking, write the sentence:

Right now, I have…

Complete the sentence by naming a few things that are supporting or holding you in this moment.

You might include:

• something inside you

• something outside you

• something relational

• something structural or societal

You don’t need to include all of these — just notice what comes.
Write the words or short phrases directly onto the page or beneath the image.

6) Stay with the whole image briefly
Look at the image, the supporting form, and the words together.

7) Stop when the timer ends

Closing the practice

Take a moment to view the page from a little distance.

Notice what it’s like to see the image — the feeling and what holds it — from here.

Now choose one word from what you’ve written, or one word that comes to mind as you look at the image.

Write this word somewhere small on the page, or on a separate piece of paper.

This word isn’t something to remember or act on — simply something to carry with you for now.

You can:

• place the page somewhere visible

• fold it and put it away

This is an invitation, not an exercise to complete. You can return to it, adapt it, or let it go.

---

Curious to explore expressive arts further?