Akinjobi,

I agree with you, somewhat, but there are times when focus gets in the way of the mindfulness that I am talking about. Most young writers that I know about equate focus with squinting their eyes and paying very close attention to a very narrow part of their experience, blocking everything else out. The point of mindfulness is to do the opposite, and stop blocking things out, allowing yourself to experience the smaller details that you would normally overlook.

Of course, mindfulness itself is also a form of focus, so really, the question isn't about whether mindfulness and focus are opposed to each other. The real question is, what are you doing with your focus? Are you doing it to see the world more clearly, or to block it out in favor of a lesson? Both are useful, at different times, and both are also useful enough that one should not be neglected to favor the other.

J