There’s a million and one distractions begging for my attention. It’s easy to be led astray. I have to ask myself again and again, what difference would they make in my life as each one comes up. Otherwise my days would be lost in the endless scrolling for information of no consequence. Mark Zuckerberg did me no favours for coming up with Facebook. I was happy enough before, not knowing everyone was having fun and travelling the world. That is everyone except me.

Do I really care how many friends they have, who they are and what they had for dinner? I never did before and I don’t think I really do now. Still, my fingers are itchy and want/need to scroll. They need to know. Not all distractions are bad or wasteful. Yesterday I discovered the page of Planet Gayle. It was a delightful find. It’s a daughter’s tribute to her wonderful and weird mother. Later in the day I came across Deanna Dikeman’s Instagram account. Seeing her photos made me want to take up my camera again. For 27 years, she took photographs as she waved good-bye and drove away from visiting her parents at their home in Sioux City, Iowa.

There are the good and bad of distractions. They can gobble up precious time which could have been better used. Then there are times when we need distractions that can trigger our troubled mind into a better place. It is up to me which way to go. I can use it or lose it.