The word "distraction" is thrown around a lot these days, especially on social media. "The Olympics distracted us from the crime and poverty in Brazil!"; "The millennials are distracting us from the recession we created!"; "Why are they talking about the male athletes so much? That's distracting us from Afghanistan and ISIS!"; "I need a distraction from all of this awful news, what's on Netflix?"; "The election is distracting us from federal regulations on student loans and public schools"; "Try out Pokemon Go! It's a good distraction from our encroaching mortality."; "I don't give a hoot about Pokemon Go - tell me what happened in Syria!"... You get the idea. In some cases, taking focus away from more meaningful matters does soak up more social media traffic than necessary. Chances are this whole article is a distraction from something that you, dear reader, may or may not need to be working on. But distractions, plentiful as they are, can be meaningful in their own ways.
Distractions can be productive. Some might say that me writing for Odyssey Online is a distraction from writing my master's thesis. In a way, they - whoever they is/are - are right. Kind of. By writing for Odyssey Online, I (hopefully) get better at writing, at expressing my thoughts/feels/opinions, and, most importantly, on research in an expressive, deadline-driven format. I shan't be so conversational in my thesis, but Odyssey-ing has, and should continue to, help me curate my writing skills. Ergo, a productive distraction. Pokemon Go has more people going outside and meeting other people now than ever before, thus improving their mental and physical health. Ergo, a productive distraction.
Distractions can be soothing. Maybe you had a bad day/week/year and need something - anything- to take your mind off matters. Why not pop on Netflix? It's funny. It's heart-warming. It's chilling. It's a distraction. Why not go see a play? See a musical? See a county spelling bee? It's art. It's a story. It's a series of characters learning something new. It's a balm for the existentialist in all of us. It's a soothing distraction.
Distractions can be fun. Say you have some time to kill before your next commitment, be it a seminar, a pottery class, filing your taxes, etc. Why not knit? Why not play basketball? Why not color? Do yoga? Play Pokemon Go? Take a walk while playing Pokemon Go? Play Pokemon Go and walk your cat/dog/pet at the same time? It's a distraction. It's also fun.
The Internet is one big distraction. It is productive. It is soothing. It is fun. It is also a distraction. The Internet can be everything. There are over 26,100,000 results on Google for "distractions". Why did I google "distractions"? I don't know. It's research. It's productive. It's a productive, fun distraction.
Distractions, in and of themselves, are complicated. It's important to parse out which distractions are productive, soothing, and fun, and which ones are taking up space. Moderation for all of the aforementioned categories is key.
The next time someone raises a mean-spirited rant over Pokemon Go, tell 'em that it's a productive distraction and that it's improving your physical health. What have they been doing?
