Zen

A surfer sits idle on his board after an evening session; in a total state of calm as the sun melts into the horizon, flooding the surrounding environment with rich golden hues. There is no Facebook, Instagram, or Google. Honking horns, chitter chatter, and all other surrounding noises are on mute, hearing only his own breath as he draws it in and then exhales.

While lowering my camera back down, I paused for a brief moment before carrying on with my photography. I couldn’t help contemplating how busy our lives have become in this crazy ADHD society we live in. Information is thrown at us from every direction possible and it never slows down. When we slow down, we get behind. We are on sensory overload, trying to take in everything imaginable. We’ve become so adept to this lifestyle that it has become normal, and any other variation would take us back a decade or two. But there comes a point when all this seemingly important data just becomes nothing more than garbage in, garbage out. Is it really enriching our lives or just leaving us engrossed?

Try this later when you get home. Bring your awareness to everything that demands your attention and then take sixty minutes out of your day to unplug from it all. Turn the television off, mute your phone, and stop staring at your twitter feed or whatever it is you can’t stop paying attention to. Take a moment to slow yourself down and just appreciate the calm.