Lantern Consciousness

Microseason No. 42, September 2-6

What would it be like to experience nature the way you did when you were a young child?

Most likely, you would be fully present in a state of relaxed awareness taking in many things simultaneously— instead of focusing on a fixed set of outcomes or ruminating on thoughts unrelated to the present moment.

Psychology professor, Alison Gopnik, has named this way of perceiving reality as “lantern consciousness.” It is the diffuse way that we paid attention to our world when we were very young. ¹

Lantern Consciousness is “the vivid panoramic illumination of the everyday.”

I try to begin each microseason expecting nothing in particular to “happen.” Life is full of distractions and problems and emotions— these can be exhausting. So often, I don’t know exactly what would give me a creative boost today. But I have learned to trust that my contemplative hike will reveal whatever it is that I need, yet cannot name ahead of time.

The trail is always waiting for me and asks nothing in return except for kind human attention, which is love. I don’t try to focus on anything in particular, but keep my five senses gently awake to whatever comes.

An open, relaxed lantern consciousness requires a clear intention to be simple, to be humble.

The greatest temptation of all is to complicate ourselves.

—John Main, OSB, from Word Into Silence

Keeping a lantern consciousness is a useful and practical form of walking meditation. In this way, there is a lit stillness of the mind. Sometimes this peace rests inside a dense grief. And we try to hold both of these together, to stay with the paradox. Like most meditative practices, it is simple, but not easy.

This is why we must practice.

Time outside among the trees, insects, animals, wildflowers, and fungi primes our five senses. Its visual harmony stirs our souls with a deeper appreciation for the beauty and abundance of life. As we walk on familiar paths, our minds are free to create new ideas, metaphors, images, and stories.

In the lamplight of repeating rhythms

ferns unroll,

ghost flowers appear in rainy

fungal alchemy,

watchful beech trees shade startled

deer that startle me, and stir

an ancient moss perfume.

I walk with sudden spiderwebs,

heart-shaped rocks

and branching shadow-carpets

beneath my feet.

A Lantern Consciousness offers us the capacity to fall in love with things again— to love life and to have the fresh curiosity so natural to us in childhood. You and I can still have this aliveness today.

All we need to do is practice what we already know.

The Beauty of the House is immeasurable;

its Kindness infinite.

—Susanna Clarke, Piranesi ²

I’ll see you in the next microseason,

—Ann

1. Please see Annie Murphy Paul’s writing on this topic.

2. This unusual setting for a story is full of things I love: a mysterious house, ocean tides, marble statues, and notebooks!!! Do check it out for an unusual and haunting read.