Attention Surplus Disorder

In her Paris Review interview, Susan Sontag said:

…writing requires huge amounts of solitude. What I’ve done to soften the harshness of that choice is that I don’t write all the time. I like to go out…I like to talk. I like to listen. I like to look and to watch. Maybe I have Attention Surplus Disorder. The easiest thing in the world for me is to pay attention.

I like that, Attention Surplus Disorder. I think I have that. I can’t seem to take off my observation glasses. I’m always paying attention to people. Strangers, friends. What are they thinking right now? What are they feeling? What are they feeling that they’re not aware they’re feeling?

Having ASD can be distracting though. I’m having a conversation with someone and I’m observing the subtext, their facial expressions, their posture, a lilt of the voice here, a stutter there. People are beautiful creatures. Anyway, I observe and observe and sometimes forget to connect.

Filed under: writing