he's just so bad sometimes that cafe guy!

I love this idea that Joyce had, simply put instead of emptying your mind like someone meditating might do, you behold an object (or perhaps a scene or a person) and you stop and let the whole experience become as full as possible. It's happened to me a few times when I'm out and about doing the ordinary tasks of life, I'll see something and it's as though time stops for just a few moments. I suppose technically brevity would be enough to express 'aesthetic arrest' but I find it a richer experience to bang any length of a poem to paper - no real rules as to the length - just as long as I get the entire thought down. Thanks so much for sharing this idea, and your own 'aesthetic arrest'