Interruptions

From the Vision Quest Tarot, the Eight of Air (Swords); from the Bird Signs/Ascension to Paradise Cards, Hawk:

Our new unparalleled access to information has come at the price of our capacity to concentrate on anything much. ―Alain de Botton

The Thoth keyword for the Eight of Swords/Air is in interference. Have you ever been in a mental flow when neurons were firing and ideas were coming together, only to be interrupted? Suddenly our intense focus is shattered by a ringing phone, someone's question or the electricity going out. It might be that our curiosity has chased some information down a rabbit hole, causing us to lose our concentration. Joy Birmingham who teaches "Managing Multiple Priorities," explains that our brain is like a filing cabinet. If we get interrupted, we should briefly write down our last thought or the next step we were about to take before changing gears. Then, when we go back to our task, we'll know what 'file' to look under to help us get back on track. Hawk is built for precision and speed, able to spot prey from 100 feet away, and then dive toward it. But even this bird needs to have its quarry in its sights before making a dive. Likewise, we make need to take a few minutes to find the entrance ramp back to our thoughts and task.