caricature girl

dis·trac·tion (d-strkshn)n.
1. The act of distracting or the condition of being distracted.
2. Something, especially an amusement, that distracts.
3. Extreme mental or emotional disturbance; obsession:

You know I've been thinking...Distractions in life seem to get such a bad rap. Right from childhood we are taught that we should focus, pay attention to what is being taught, stop veering off course. I really don't know why. Of course, if you are driving a motorcycle or are responsible for replacing someone's lungs, I think focus should really at the top of the list, but the rest of the time, I think distractions are valuable, occationally intoxicating and undoubtedly necessary in life.

I think if you go through life with absolute and impeccable focus on the "planned destination", the "next achievement", or the "projected goal" something gets missed. Even when you are passionate for something, its important to look around once in awhile and see what else catches your eye.

When I think back to my travel days, the memories that I hold dearest seem to be the ones where I veered off course temporarily and found myself in a place I didn't even know existed as a possibility...a kibbutz in Isreal, a hostel built into the trees in New Zealand or 3 accidental days in Bangkok.

I believe our distractions teach us things we didn't know about ourselves; what moves us or speaks to us, and how important it is to just not do what you should be doing and have fun sometimes.

The challenging part of course is knowing when its time to get back to what we know we need to be doing.