There is a matter far more pressing than this that urges itself to be written about. Almost subversively, I choose to write on the subject of distraction.
When speaking of distraction, there’s always an eager audience wanting to know how to ‘deal with it’. Decreed an unwitting ‘expert’ on this subject by virtue of my academic qualification, here is what I have to say about distraction—in a manner that bears an intoxicating resemblance to the effects of distraction.
The modern day has rendered distraction an unnecessary obstruction, something that is forever getting in the way of productive work. But the modern day has also, quite interestingly, sanctioned and encouraged the pursuit of these very distractions within the confines of ‘free time’, which is offered to most of us in the form of the weekend (that must necessarily follow the toil of the five successive, earnest and relentless days of the week).
Distraction is typically defined and understood as an object or an experience that prevents you from being able to offer your undivided attention to something else—the more important thing, obviously.
Netflix, vanity, voyeurism, etc. become the distractors. Work, drudgery, duty, etc. become the things that call for our faithful attention.
Now that we’ve got the crude examples out of the way, let’s dive deeper.
Distracted from vs. Distracted by
If Netflix distracts us from the task at hand—drafting an application for that dream job, for instance—then what is that thing that could possibly distract us from watching Netflix? Or is Netflix finally the experience that holds our undivided attention? Do we ever feel the need to be distracted from Netflix? Could we, at any point, begin to feel distracted from it, and not exclusively by it?
If so, then let’s take a minute to reflect on that moment.
(Please note that Netflix in this case serves as a working example for all things enjoyable.)
Let’s take another example. The lure of a liaison could be an excellent distraction from the tedium of a marriage. If and when granted legitimacy, perhaps the affair will also begin to seek greener pastures. Clandestinity, then, might just be the key to devout attentiveness. But, just as being ‘too distracted’ is discouraged, being ‘too attentive’ reeks of addiction. Distraction is permitted only as long as it is already permissible.
Distraction as Respite
As we remain in the throes of the coronavirus pandemic, any kind of distraction from the grim situation is a welcome respite. This is when distraction gets an approving nod—albeit provisional—from the authority figures that pretend to have risen above the dance of distraction.
Cook, clean, sing, dance, watch a movie, moisturise your hands, paint your nails, light a candle, clap at your window, clap for the head of state…until there is a collective amnesia around what we are being asked to do. Ignorance might be bliss, but forgetting is the really wonderful feeling.
Distraction as Creation
At this point, I would like to make a case for distraction. The classroom, the dispenser of all corrective-punitive actions, is where you are repeatedly asked to pay attention. Failing to pay attention is a bad thing. Looking out the window is a bad thing. Daydreaming is a bad thing. When the teacher speaks, listen to them with rapt attention, silencing every other voice, including your own.
Imagine the child (in you) doodling on a piece of paper. When you fail to look out the window, you fail to be distracted by the spectacle that could perhaps become the spellbinding subject of your art. Of what use, then, is undivided attention?
Distraction as Attention
Here is where I redefine distraction, at least for my own purpose (in life). Distraction is another way of paying sincere and undivided attention to that something else. When we stop looking at distraction as a vice in need of correction, what we start to see is perhaps attention in its purest form.
The Politics of Distraction
As long as distraction causes no disturbance, as long as it remains relegated to the restricted window of free time, as long as it never gains the approval assigned to worthwhile endeavours, as long as it is inoffensive and seemingly benign, as long as it never spills outside the lines carefully drawn to contain it, and as long as it never looks out the window, distraction is permissible.
In carefully measured doses, distraction is, indeed, very welcome, as a means to remind us of the things that truly call for our attention. After all, if it weren’t for the lure of transgression, would we ever know that we were supposed to work hard, love faithfully and live honestly?