Attention must be paid!

What you are doing right now?

I know one answer: You are reading this essay. Or at least you are reading this sentence that states you are reading this essay.

Did I already lose your attention? In between that sentence and this one, did you:
.Get a buzz on your phone that sidetracked you to a text?
.Get a ping on the laptop that signaled an incoming email that you knew would be garbage, but you had to check it out anyway?
.Have an irresistible urge (meaning you could not resist it, so you did it) to check your Facebook feed?
.And, while scrolling through the heavily curated snippets of other people’s lives, did you find your attention diverted to a reel that took you on a tour of an Emirates first-class cabin? A kitchen hack you will never ever use?
.But was intriguing enough for you to Google it and watch a YouTube?

And then, on your way to the kitchen to brew a cup of tea, you saw out the window, that the cherry tree had popped. So, you had to grab your phone and take a picture. And then, that image was so lovely you just had to post it on your IG account. And as you hashtagged it #springishere, you thought: Shit, spring is here. I need to check out lettuce and broccoli starts at Down to Earth (or whatever your local garden store is). And so, you went to that website.

And now, maybe you are back here, in my literary clutches again. Until I lose you. I mean, wouldn’t it be nice to listen to some music right now? Maybe this? Or perhaps this?

Back again? If I may have your attention for a moment. If we can, in fact, focus our attention for a moment: It is fascinating/ harrowing/ enlightening to focus on how we can’t. Focus, that is. How distracted we are, how easily distracted. How we used to be able to concentrate but find it harder now. How deeply embedded in this non-stop, amped up, constantly accelerating world of information we find ourselves. And how we just have to click over to Zappos right now to see if there’s a big sale on boots because, well, it’s spring. (Yes, I just did that, my friends.)

Here’s a book you may want to read, should read: Stolen Focus: Why You Can’t Pay Attention and How to Think Deeply Again.

And now, go check that email. Because I am sure it is of vital importance. See you next Wednesday.