There. I said it, out loud. Or at least on a screen for myself and others to read. Funny thing is, I do not think this actually makes me unique. There is a cottage industry built around figuring out just how short our human attention spans have become in this digital age. But what I do know is that in my own way, the nature to get distracted has caused me more harm than just about anything else.
Not physical harm in the sense of a missing limb or auto accident caused by texting, but spiritual and emotional harm. The sense of distance from who I could be be compared to the person I am, both in terms of situations and the overall arc of my time on this planet. As I sit here now in the throes of my 47th year, I can not help but think of the things I have not accomplished which I could have by now. And just how much I have missed out on because I was paying attention to, enthralled by, or wrapped into something else. A something that was not important. Relationships, jobs, friendships, or worries that were as permanent as vapors, but which somehow still left scars.
There are more important examples. The books and articles not written or read, the weight not lost, the trips not taken, the memories not made, the life not lived. It is difficult not to look back and think of what I missed when, as the song goes, "I was making other plans." The opposite is also true. The best things have happened, almost always do happen, when I am in the moment, when I am focused, when I am reading the room and know it is where I should be. When I can and do separate the wheat from the chaff.
Is this any less true for our communities and our nation? Distracted by Social Media, political machinations, slanted news, gadgets, and a myriad other forces we are unable to address the vast majority of issues which truly harm our fellow citizens and the ability of our world to thrive.
How can we address systemic racism, social economic issues, climate change, sustainability, educational reform, public safety, infrastructure, a pandemic which has killed 800,000 people and so much more when as a people we follow the bright, bouncing, shiny ball wherever it may lead. And that is never, ever, to someplace where better paths and ideas are found. Too often, it is to places designed to validate our distractions and encourage our distance from the things that truly matter.
Maybe I am being too hard on myself. Maybe I am just one more cog in a giant wheel that is desperately, passionately designed to make it impossible for us to grow and move forward collectively or individually. The world demands stasis. It loves consistency. It abhors change.
Or the other take. My inspiration needs to be the ones who avoid the distractions, stay focused on what matters, and ensure progress in their own lives and those of their communities. So often, the most inspirational of people are able to do that very thing. Not all the time, but often enough to make a difference. My own life tells the possibilities contained in even small does of less distraction.
I know that I personally can not and will never be perfect in this department. But I can strive to be better. I can acknowledge that this is something I will work on in 2022 and beyond and commit myself to the opposites of distraction: attention and presence.
Perhaps that would be a good resolution for individuals and communities in the face of all that is going on in our world today and in our own personal lives. I can not help but think of the incredible possibilities inherent in us meeting just a little bit more of the potential we have as humans and communities and of the fact that such a dream may be what is essential for us to meet any of the biggest challenges we face.
It's hard to walk a tight rope or build a cathedral when watching Tik-Tok.