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Awareness Horizon
Copyright (c) 2004 by Heidrun Beer - all rights reserved
The awareness horizon is the amount of space which a person can keep energized with attention. It can be physical space, filled with actual objects and people, but it can also be visualized space in a person's imagination ("mental space"), which is typically used as a parallel for the management of actual spaces - pretty much like a notebook, just without paper and pen.
A healthy person with a good education, who is fully aware of himself as a combination of physical and spiritual components, should be aware of most life areas as part of his environment that need his input in order to remain (or become) functional. In his life, we will see active care for body, home, possessions and family as well as active participation in social groups and political movements. His attitude toward nature will be thoughtful and non-abusive, he will be interested in art and probably also in the events going on in outer space.
Sooner or later in his life, when the more urgent issues like business and children are well underway, he will probably also ask questions about his spiritual nature, even if this topic has not been covered by his education, and after some studies he might even get in touch with the supreme being, his own very personal spiritual parent, under one of his many names.
Reductions
Not everybody is so balanced though. Some professions and personality types have typical reductions in their awareness horizon, which are the result of an intense focus on issues that are most important to them. Some reductions are age-related. Read here what you might be overlooking if you are a housewife/mother, a young child, a teenager, a manager, a politician, an artist, a top athlete, a scientist, a spiritual seeker, a spiritual "master", or a christian priest. Of course these are only a few examples for awareness horizon configurations - try to make your own observations of people in your environment!
Here is the awareness horizon of a completely aware person again. And here is a special note on psychiatrists.
Traumatized people and antisocial personality types also have reductions in their awareness horizon, which cause them to perceive certain parts of life as hostile or dangerous. It is interesting that healthy people can easily integrate these parts of life into their daily patterns of positive cooperation - so take a moment to think about whom you entrust with running your kid's school, his or your own spiritual consulting, or your government!
The space which these problematic personality types experience as safe is typically very small, and spaces bordering on their "safe space" are considered a threat, together with the people who populate them. Any spaces beyond that are not perceived at all (partial unconsciousness). Here are the awareness horizon configurations for an abused/traumatized person, a drug addict, a criminal, a criminal politician and a false priest.
This page last changed on: 21. Dec 09