This image only features three people; women dressed in pretty but simple solids, their casual forward motion giving the photo an attention grabbing quality. However, few people who view this picture would describe it as calm. In fact, most would agree it’s quite busy!

How can something with only three people feel so full?

Simply put, our world is busy and not just the kind of busy that comes from planning twelve different activities for any given day. Busy comes at us in daily news flashes, e-mail pings, and screens displaying everything from movie headlines to beauty advice. It may feel like this experience is new, a result of modern development, but as we can see in this photo it was likely a part of human experience long before a seeming tech takeover.

We might not be able to control the world that swirls around us, but we certainly can decide how we handle it. At times it might feel like we are so surrounded that we have to drop all we are doing to tend to the buzz. In truth, the power of the headlines and the notifications only lies in our reaction to it. Even as we experience the pull of a hundred things we can, like these women, choose to focus straight ahead, pressing forward without a sideways glance. They know the headlines, the news flashes, and all that comes with it will still be there when they are ready to face it. Today, instead of getting caught up in the storm of busyness around them, they are going to take their time together and embrace it. They aren’t ignoring the things around them, they are setting their priorities in order.

Perhaps in a world of busy, look at me now demands, an ability to stay right on the course we already chose might be exactly what we need to keep our head clear and our lives well lived.