Zen Kitty: Coming to a pet store near you!

You know, as much as I love him to death (and I do), my cat can be a pain in the ass.

I use the term cat loosely here. He's a kitten. Boo is all of 6 months old, and maybe I'm just saying this because I don't have any, but he's like having a freaking child sometimes.

Boo is a notorious monopolizer of my attention. No matter what I'm doing, he wants to be on top of me, and he gets annoyed if I'm not paying total attention to him. Even now, if I didn't edit out all the gibberish on here from him walking on my keyboard none of you would be able to read any of this. He wants my focus, my concentration.

And is he that wrong?

We live in a distracted society. And that isn't to sound like some hippie buzz-word dropping nutjob who thinks technology has destroyed us all. 'Cause I'm not. I'm not placing judgment on it at all, it's just a fact. We, as a people, as a society, as a species, are incredibly distracted.

I'm a big multitasker. In school I always did homework while listening to music, because I "couldn't concentrate" if it was too quiet. I pride myself on my ability to drive a car, smoke a cigarette, talk on the phone, and eat a cheeseburger all at the same time. This is not a good thing. Now that I'm typing it it's actually slightly embarrassing.

Driving is the worst for a lot of people. Do me a favor, just for kicks. The next time you're driving anywhere, do not allow yourself to be distracted by anything. No phone calls, no listening to music or the radio, nothing. Just drive. Be present in the act of transporting yourself from one place to another. And if you make it longer than five minutes come let me know, because you're better than I am.

Our relationships suffer as a result of this distraction. When talking to the people around us, how often are you truly present in the conversation (as opposed to thinking about all the other things you have to do that day)? We're constantly in a state of processing an unbelievable number of things mentally, and none of them ever get our full attention.

This, in a nutshell, is why I suck at meditating.

I've never been great at slowing the chaos that is my inner monologue. Especially when things are going on in my life that I'm excited about. Right now I'm starting a new schedule at my job, and just began a new relationship. I have a lot on my mind.

Boo doesn't care. All that matters to him is this moment. He doesn't give a shit what's on TV, or what's going on in my life. He cares about what we're doing right now, and the connectedness of it. He doesn't want to just be near me because I'm warm. He wants to be close to me. He reminds me to take a moment to connect to whoever I'm with, to be present in whatever I'm doing no matter how trivial it may seem, and to live fully in each moment as it comes.

He's a walking, living, breathing mindfulness training.