Monday, January 25, 2010

Oooo, sparkly things!

Since typing the title for this post, I have officially checked my email-twice, Facebook, the MSN homepage, checked my nail growth and stared off into the khaki walls of my room thinking about absolutely nothing until my attention was brought back to what I originally set off to do which was to write to you about attention deficits. Make that twice for Facebook.

I've never lived in anyone else's brain for an extended period of time so maybe I'm plum normal. Probably not, but I digress. In hoping to pass the buck around a little, I would like to propose to you that, in part, my wandering hapless brain could be a consequence of my generations' speed-crazed bamboozlement and cerebral sabotage begun at an early age.

In my short lifetime, we have seen the absolute necessity of the remote control, fast food drive-thrus that substitute for sit down meals, jet liners (because who wants to sit in a car for x number of hours), EZpasses, microwave dinners, FedEx Overnite, Minute Made rice, cell phones and because there is nothing more time consuming than calling to ask how someone's day was, texting. We are enamored by things that sparkle, accelerate and shine, blurring our ability to sustain focus on things that frankly don't entertain or dazzle us, like taxes, birds and pro-football. Our newly formulated human consciousness says we are in constant need of stimulation to be productive and amused. And we are.

In a book I read (and strangely enough, finished), author Richard DeGrandpre points to that very fact. He claims that today's youth have grown up in a sensory addicted world and have acclimated to it well enough. So well that when presented with situations that take precision and due diligence, we would rather be skewered on a bowling pin and set out to die in the scorching African sun. Deliberate living, as he called it, has lost relevancy because our brains are conditioned to seek out things that are in keeping with our hyper-paced experience at the expense of a balanced, purposeful life.

Even now in writing to you, I have my TV on mute. It's not off mind you, but only muted. I am neither facing the television nor do I have any other senses telling me it's on other than just my own memory telling me so. Admittedly, the activity flickering in the background reassures me that I am once again, traveling at my accepted rate of normalcy. It's oddly comforting, like an electrified blankie, only I would not suck my thumb in tandem for fear of a crispy death.

This topic has many components to it, including the addition of medication to curb the behaviors associated with this kind of fragmented living (which I have personal experience with and will write on one day). But for now, I hope I have sparked some internal dial…

Oooo, a fly!

*scratches self*

*pats distended belly*

*swivels around in chair and screams "Weeeee!"*

Where were we? Oh yes, leave me some comments.

11 comments:

  1. HUH, my ADD was all over the place when reading this!! Too many big words! hahahahahahahahahhaha -your loving sister

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  2. Ahh, Heather. You said "loving" so I was confused.

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  3. You are so right my cousin....

    Oh look there's a chicken!

    Where was I? Oh yes, even I who am older than you, find that my ability to concentrate on one task for long periods of time has been lessened by the current instant media culture that we...

    I think I need a cup of coffee

    Was that the phone?

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  4. Amanda,
    I don't get your post. What do you mean about...

    oh wait! Did I tell you about....

    hold on, let me get on facebook so I can...

    One more sec someone's at the door...

    Ah now my phone's ringing...

    Nevermind, I'll just text you instead!!

    Or maybe, I can send smoke signal... oohhh fire.. pretty...

    <3 ya! great post. Oh so true. What was the name of the book you read? I wonder what happens when we've gotten to the point where there's no stimulus great enough to hold our attention... scary! Anyway, try to umm, stay as focused as possible. If you need a distractor, my blog's full of them :-D

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  5. Ha! You are too much you silly girl!

    Cssey Lou will be kidnapping you in April and you both with come to visit me. We will hug and cry and giggle.....I miss you....I love you...I need to see your too beautiful for words face again....NOW PLEASE!

    Thank you!

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  6. Oh...and by the way, What in the world did you do to that picture of you? It's like you gave it plastic surgery....you are perfect just the way you are!!! Big Lips and super long eyelashes are for people like Angelina Jolie....big scary veins are next! DO YOU HEAR ME??? DO YOU??? Do you really want that???

    I didn't think so.

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  7. @Debbie- I can see you having attention issues but that's only becuase you are prolific in your interests. If I could knit a wool sweater while reading through an entire book with one eye and blogging about your last cooking endeavor with the other, I wouldn't be calling it a disorder as much as I'd be calling it a dadgum gift from above.

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  8. @Jonsey: Yes, please kidnap me. It has snowed the past 6,921 days of my life. I would love to see your digs and have lots of silly time full of sizzling bacon and mama snakes.

    And I happen to love long eyelashes and pillow lips. Not so much on the veins though. They're the devil.

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  9. @doc: The book is called Ritalin Nation. It got mixed reviews but I thought it was interesting and merited some thought. It could be helpful to you as you consider going into psychiatry.

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  10. So this is what you kids do these days? What is it? Blarging?

    Anyhoo, in literature, what you write of is referred to as 'stream of consciousness.' But most prefer calling it just ADD. I taught a seminar on it a few years back. And I don't agree--I always think in long, articulate sentences linked by logical transitions into the next topic. Nice blarg though.

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  11. Thanks, grandpa Olds. Glad you came by. Come 'gain.

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