It turns out that my guitar taught me a valuable lesson. Somehow in this crazy house that I live in, ago a week ago, my guitar spontaneously migrated out of my office. One of the kids moved it to the upstairs bonus room without my knowledge. I usually keep my acoustic guitar right next to my work desk. It sits there 99 percent of the time. Occasionally when the mode strikes, I pick it up and strum a tune. Maybe an old song I like or a totally random conglomeration of melodies that I have long forgotten. It’s a little escape for me when my mind is consumed by heavier things It’s always there for the taking at a moments notice.

Well, not any more. An interesting thing happened over the next week. I didn’t think of playing. Not even once. Nada.

That got me thinking about immediacy and the modern world that we live in. We are constantly engaged with TV, movies, iPad, iPhone, DVR, Netflix, Facebook, twitter, foursquare, text messages,and on it goes. I’m not sure if this is our primitive prey behavior coming to the limelight or if it’s our technology fascination or some combination of both. Have you ever seen a cow sleep with its eyes open? That’s because they are a prey animal and it’s not a good thing to forget about your surroundings when you are on the menu.

Here’s the thing, just a few years ago I was just the opposite. Intently focused for hours on end. I remember on one occasion I totally ignored a colleague who was talking to me in at my desk because I was go engrossed in my work. I’m not proud of that one. So what happened to me? At some point I started to change. My brain went from a calm river slowly but surely chugging along to a sprinkler flailing in all direction at once. It seems each of these states has some value depending on the task at hand.

My guitar taunt me that immediacy is king.