To pay attention--to observe, to see the richness and detail that is right before everyone--is the essence of mindfulness. It is also, the author argues, the essence of good writing--the kind of writing for which there is a long American tradition of writers such as Emerson, Thoreau, E. B. White, Barry Lopez, Annie Dillard, Joan Didion, John McPhee, Scott Russell Sanders, and others--a tradition of writing that, as the poet Ted Kooser argues, delights in describing the world discovered right within reach. In this article, the author contends that a writing course based on mindfulness teaches students to pay attention to their drive to school, to notice the flags flying at half-staff, in short, to become fully aware of their lives and the world in which they live. (Contains 2 notes.)