Multi-tasking seems to be a skill critical to leading a successful modern life. People brag about the different hats they wear and the number of fingers they have in any variety of pies. In fact, multi-tasking has become not only a point of pride, but a necessity. This is especially true for those who pursue careers at the same time they are raising a family.

             While competent multi-tasking enables us to complete one job while contemplating the next and resolving the one preceding it, this constant state of fragmented attention robs us of the opportunity to focus, purely and intensely, on the task at hand.

            We do our best, trying to keep all those balls in the air, but like any good juggler, once that skill is acquired, we never have to look at the ball again. It becomes reflexive. The organic, mindful connection between ourselves and what we do is severed, because we are constantly moving between anticipation and reaction on our way to getting things accomplished.

            My theory is that in the not-so distant future, some person will experience a deathbed flashback, except there will be no walk back through that first kiss, or the birth of a child. Instead, there will be only an indiscernible blur, because sadly, that is how the majority of us live our lives: in passing.