Let me see how I explain because I think you missed my point:
I myself cannot achieve this, that I am not affected by external things and attitudes of others. I am talking about the hypothetical case in which we could achieve this. That would be great. Because it would save us time and aggravation, to stay focused on what matters to us and who really matters to us.
And about being the center... it's the worst thing to want to be the center. Better to be on the outside, watching from the edge. These are the really smart people. They don't miss a single detail. So maybe that's why she looked at the edges.