It’s afternoon. I’m enjoying my second coffee a bit later than usual, and taking a break from work. It’s quiet in the office, and I’m alone here, today. It’s nice.

The early commute into the office was relaxed and there wasn’t much traffic. I drove along thinking my thoughts and contemplating how fitting it is, in these modern times, that the phrase “paying attention” exists – because these days, our attention is literally worth money. Likes, clicks, views, shares… engagement with content, with advertising, with platforms; everyone wants a piece of our attention, and we buy goods and services with it. “Free” services are rarely actually free; we’re the product. More to the point, our attention is, as is our data. Ick.

I continue to be pleased that my Traveling Partner is putting so much time and energy into freeing us, as much as possible, from being trapped in the (world wide) web of marketing and data collection going on all around us. I smile and wish him well from my quiet seat in the office. I love him dearly and find myself missing him, although it was just hours ago that I kissed him good-bye before I left for work, and only a handful of hours before I return home.

I keep thinking about that phrase “paying attention”… what are you paying for with yours? Is it worth the price? What do you lose because your attention is elsewhere? Is it a fair exchange? What could you be doing differently to enjoy your life on your terms more? Those precious minutes of your attention are finite – do you want to spend them the way you do?

What matters most? Those moments of your attention lost scrolling a feed don’t amount to much for what you’re giving up elsewhere, do they? If you add them all up and then spend them with someone you love, how much more valuable would they become?

The questions are worth asking.

I sip my coffee and think about the value in a lifetime of attention, and how precious some moments are. I sip my coffee and prepare to begin again… differently.