Our attention isn’t just something we pay, it’s all we truly have to give to one another. In an age where digital systems constantly compete for our focus, our attention has become both increasingly valuable and increasingly fragmented.

The irony doesn’t escape me. While we’re building machines that can process thousands of connections simultaneously, we’re losing our ability to form even one genuine connection at a time. We’ve convinced ourselves that dividing our attention is the same as multiplying it. But attention doesn’t work that way. It’s not infinitely divisible. It’s more like sunlight through a magnifying glass, it’s most powerful when focused on a single point. When scattered, it warms nothing.

We treat attention as if it’s a renewable resource, something we can spread thin and replenish at will. But what if it’s more like time, finite, precious, and impossible to get back once it’s gone? What if attention isn’t just something we spend, but the very currency of our human experience?

The truth is, we don’t need to pay attention to everything. We don’t need to be constantly connected, perpetually available, eternally engaged. What we need, what we’ve always needed, is the courage to be fully present in the moments that matter.

Our attention can only truly be in one place at a time. And that might be our greatest strength.