Focusing on Who Matters

I have been reminded lately of how much time I have spent thinking, agonizing, or simply poring over situations, but most importantly people, that are not closely relevant to, concerned with or invested in my wellbeing. In particular, the birth of Ms. Blue Ivy Carter definitely helped my thought process. To see how invested my Twitter and Facebook feeds were in the reasons behind and accuracy of Beyonce's and Jay's baby girl's name, her birthplace, her trust fund, song written for her- blah blah blah- was overwhelming to me and disturbing. I would usually get enthralled in this typical celebrity- inspired feeding frenzy but this time, my mind went elsewhere. As I even considered thinking of a baby, of a couple who knows not a single thing about me or cares for my welfare, I began to think of all of the family members that I have, who have not heard from me in weeks, months and in some cases, years. I could not fathom Googling for information, doing cross analysis of the etymology of a name, nada. It all felt futile and I felt plain ol' guilty.

I know that we all have our diversions and distractions and the celebrity world can provide an outlet to our increasingly stressful and busy lives - I will be the first to confess that I have lived vicariously through many a celebrity. I know that our commentaries are not always malicious or delusional. I know that some of us can multitask, reading Huffington Post while on the phone with Grandma. I am simply not one of those talented people.

I promise I am not wagging my judging finger at any of you. I am far from perfect. I have not reached the peak of enlightenment in any realm. I just feel particularly challenged to spend more time in this new year affirming, loving, and thinking on the folks in my life that I have inadvertently pushed to the back burner. My priorities have been totally out of whack and I will be the first to admit: Change is an imperative.

Who will you call this week? To whom will you send an email or *gasp* handwritten note, just to say that you were thinking about them?