It occurred to me today that I think that most of us are easily distracted. To greater or lesser extents, we may think that we have a quality of focus, but I think that we are probably all more distracted than we realize.

For example, it’s been a while since I took a long drive in a car (because of the pandemic and the quarantine), but I still remember the experience. Specifically, when it comes to particular drives that you take over and over again, have you ever noticed that it is your particular pattern to look at the same things every time? On my way to work in the mornings, I would always look at this particular house on this side of the road at a certain point in the drive, and I would always look at that particular tree on that side of the road during that particular part of the drive.

How did I get into those patterns? Why do I choose to repeatedly look at the things that I look at? More importantly, what am I missing when I’m habitually facing this way at this point and that way at that point? What am I missing?

I suspect that this is a metaphor for our lives. The pandemic and the quarantine have taught me a lot of things, and this is one of them.

I wonder if anyone else is noticing things that they didn’t notice before because things have been shaken up so substantially that we are being freed from out habitual distractions.

What happens if that house I look at, on the east side of road 3.75 miles into my commute, gets destroyed in a fire? Will I then be able to notice the beautiful flower garden planted for years at that same place on the other side of the road?

Perhaps it shouldn’t take a house burning down (or a global pandemic) to get me to be more observant.

And, it’s unfortunately the case, I’m afraid that we are being lead around by powers all around us that are relying on us continuing to be distracted by what has always distracted us. Maybe I’m just being paranoid a little bit, but I am starting to wonder whether or not the distractions that have been in place, many of which have fallen away, were there to begin with to keep us distracted.

I guess, deep down, I am hoping that I’m not the only one who is looking around and thinking, “How can we get some really substantial, long-lasting, societal change out of all of this chaos?”