Words That Look Back - Attraction

The Magnetic Pull

When I sat down to write the next piece in this series,
I realized I wasn’t quite sure how attraction appears.

Does it show up as an idea?
As a movement I can feel?

Is it a momentary thought?
A flash of emotion?

What I have noticed over time
is that attraction doesn’t arrive as a single impressive event.

It appears as many small, unnoticed moments.

They capture my attention.
And I find myself ...

following.
Leaning in.

Much like aversion,
attraction slips in quietly—
pulling attention this way and that.

It doesn’t ask.
It doesn’t wait.

And before I’ve chosen anything,
something in me is already reaching toward it..

Attraction isn’t just liking something.

It’s the movement of attention toward it
before I’ve made the choice.

These small movements gather.

They repeat.

And over time,
they begin to shape the direction of a life
as much as any decision I believe I’ve made.

There’s a line from a quatrain of E.J.Gold’s
that I’ve found useful:

“Neither attracted nor repelled.”

Not as a way of turning away from life.
Not as disinterest.

But as a reminder.

Attraction arises.

It can be seen.
Even enjoyed.

Without being followed.

Without being allowed to decide
where attention goes next.

There’s a place in that seeing—
quiet, but steady—

where attraction is present,
but not in control.

A kind of space
between the pull
and the movement that usually follows.

The here
where attention remains.