Original gangster...

     Today’s writing prompt is, “Are you distracted by technology.”  Ha.  Umm, yeah.  Aren’t we all in this day and age?

     Technology is a WONDERFUL thing!  I have such an appreciation for technology, particularly where it lends to long-distance communication.  I can remember not all that long ago when NONE of this was possible!

     Not being able to call a friend in the next town because it was “local long-distance”.  And if you did get to call, it had to be after 7pm because that’s when the rates were cheaper.  Because of this, my BFF Allison and I had the original blogs.  We each had a big spiral notebook that we would write letters in all day every day talking about our life and what was happening, and then we would exchange the notebooks at church.  We would go home and excitedly pour through what the other had to say and then we would start all over again.  Would that be blogging or texting?  I don’t know.  Maybe some of both.  Either way, we are totally the  OG’s of blogging.

     I remember one of us taking pictures with our 110 camera and then having to wait a week (or way more) for the drug store to develop the film.  And God-forbid if someone forgot to order doubles of the prints!  Nostalgia is the only good thing about looking back on that era.

Now, everything is instant and beautiful!  I can not only talk to, but SEE anyone I want to call!  No matter WHERE they are! 

     However, to whom much is given, much is required.  We have all of this glorious technology, but at what cost?  First of all, let’s talk about noise pollution.  Technology can be NOISY.    When there is a TV blaring in the background, phones are going off, someone has headphones in but you can still hear the music, someone else is talking on their phone…ugh.  It’s too much.  Sometimes I just turn everything off and sit in the quiet.  It is so nice.

     Secondly, we act like we are mandated to be available 24 hours a day. We have no privacy and there are no boundaries.  If someone texts, they expect an immediate (or almost) answer.  It’s ridiculous.

     Third, because our faces are always stuck in our phones, we are missing life.  Life is happening every second of every day, but most of us see it through a phone screen and a camera.  And have you ever noticed that no matter how good of a camera you are using, that nothing captures what is really happening like the human eye?  You can be watching the most glorious sunset and try to take a picture, but the picture will always pale in comparison.  Always.  There is nothing like our human eyes.  If you live your life and take it all in, you will have experiences and memories that far surpass any picture you could have taken of it.  Recorded music never sounds as good as live and the colors in a picture are never as vibrant as through the human eye.

     Because of all this, I decided a few weeks ago to take a weekly technology Sabbath.  One day a week, I choose Sunday, I put the technology down and try not to be on my phone.  I don’t totally turn it off and I may glance at Facebook once or twice in the day, but I in no way spend much time on there.  Not like I normally do.  It’s nice and I think it helps bring you into balance.  It sounds like a silly question, but seriously… What would you do or accomplish today if you were not allowed to be on technology?  Would you talk to your friend longer?  Read a book, go for a walk, take a nap, spend time with the kids… all the good stuff in life. 

     I’m excited to make this a tradition in our lives.  I have been saying for a long time now, that I bet there will be a shift in consciousness because of the over-availability of technology.  The same way that everyone used to have a home phone and now hardly anyone does, I bet the pendulum will swing the other way in the future.  Everyone is going to appreciate phones, but become sick of how intrusive the phone is into their lives and will use them less and less, going back to home phones.  I’m curious to see how that plays out.  I at least predict that people will seek a better balance than there is now.

xoxo v.