Technology Train

I was just thinking and actually kind of missing that old sound that you'd hear when you were dialing up to sign in online...."be-bobe-bo-be-bup-bup...crshhhh.trill..a series of static and beeping and then! Er er. You've got mail!"


I remember how long it took, and how little we actually did online of any worth back when the internet was so new we didn't really need it yet. Instant messaging while you were on the phone with your friends at the same time making plans and hopping in and out of lame chat rooms playing pranks and just being goofy together. Remember when teachers first starting asking you to include internet sources in your reports to be cutting edge? ...Remember...When you used the card file at the library? ...When you had to buy the new Thomas Brothers Guide to find your way around southern California? So much has changed in so short a time!

It makes me think someday we'll be telling our kids - "I remember when internet came out. Can you believe there wasn't always the internet!?" Similar to our parent's versions about when television came out and when their family got their first set! It's hard to look at what we have now and think about life before all this technology. I never would have dreamed that someday even the poor kids in the clinics would be passing the time waiting to see the doctor carrying around their own high tech thin screens the size of notebooks they can play games on and video chat with people around the world on all with the swipe of a finger! That was Back to the Future stuff - not in my lifetime! And here we are!

It's kinda crazy to think about the evolution of entertainment and communication. It used to be that people gathered around a fire, telling stories, playing their own music, and dancing - most of what they thought and talked about was what they themselves came up with or what was passed down from memories and ancient writings. Then print, the telephone, radio, and television -- made the vision of essentially a few creative people available to many. Now with the internet EVERYONE can easily share their ideas and talents on a worldwide scale. We know the news that's going on around the globe (that doesn't really effect us, but does - because some of the mistakes we make these days have further reaching consequences, and because wherever we hear something that strikes a chord with our humanity it leaves it's emotional impact). ...We can read not only the news, but the latest doings and opinions of all our friends and acquaintances from all over the world! It's cool that one individual can share their voice with so many, but I also feel that with all that everyone is sharing it's really too much to take in and weed through. It's overwhelming.

Sometimes I long for a simpler time. Sometimes things feel like they are changing so fast and not always for the better. There are many good things to experience when you're unplugged. But are we getting enough of that down time? How can you really meditate when you're constantly hooked into some feed? And you have to ask yourself: Is the feed you are hooked into really what you want to feed on? Is it uplifting and educational or is it just garbage you're putting into your head? I know I want to be more spiritually fed! I love the feel and fulfillment of making something of my own, and of being inspired by something outside of myself! How can you tap into true inspiration and create if you spend ALL your time viewing and commenting on the creations of others? (You easily could - it's addicting.) How can you focus your life to true purpose when you are letting so many things vie for your attention and time?

Don't get me wrong - I am not anti-technology. I LOVE my indoor plumbing, and I love the wealth of useful information at our fingertips! The ability to talk face to face with Lily's grandparents who are far away and share photos and news with mine! The job it's allowing Mike to do that doesn't involve risking his life and health the way his old job did! The opportunities it's providing our family...just to name a few!

I guess partly I just personally find it hard to find a balance, or feel like I am. Especially with facebook. I don't feel like I spend a lot of time online, yet I still feel it is too much! Maybe I just have a hard time detaching from things and keeping them all lined up in proper perspective. I also tend to over-think and self-criticize. I wonder what worth it actually is to me to be on there at all and if it balances out the negative. Yeah, I love when I find out about a great event or play-date opportunity, learn a useful fact from a friend, or try to lift or feel lifted by sharing jokes and kind words with my friends. But on the flip side: often time is wasted, typewritten feelings are misunderstood, sensational things worry and rile me up, and seemingly "perfect" images of people and their situations make me feel low.

How much do you share, how much do you look at, how much do you comment on, how much do you believe?  How much do you let all the random things you've read fill up in your head and distract you from what's really important?

It could come to a point where you have to ask yourself: Are you living your life online? Replacing real life relationships with superficial socializing? Letting real responsibilities slide and wondering where the time went?

I wonder: Do people actually think that the few posts I put up about myself represent who I really am? Does anyone really care about what I am sharing? Do I really need to be "liked"?

If you share all your news online don't you think it becomes kind of awkward to meet someone in person and wonder what to talk about with them because you don't know what they've already read? Don't you kind of feel strange to mention something you read about someone else online when you actually meet them in person - like they'll think you're a stalker or something?  -Do you sort of/kinda take offense when a friend misses one of your latest posts? Do you feel more comfortable contacting people in a text than talking to them face to face or even over the phone? Does it feel like a relief talking to someone totally new because there aren't those complications with catching up? I've seen and experienced these kind of things going on around me -I feel like social skills and interactions are rapidly changing with social media and all this technology. I know I'm not the only who's noticed that in many crowds of adults these days there are few who don't have their heads down in their phones instead of giving their attention to the people around them! How long can they go before they pull it out to check on it? ...I wonder if there are many kids these days who aren't spending all their driving time playing video games or watching movies (that somebody else invented and they've probably seen or played many times before) instead of talking with their family or staring out the car window thinking about things like we did as kids. That's useful time in my mind! Are kids getting enough time where they aren't being either schooled or entertained? Enough opportunity to bend their parents ear or look them in the eye? (With the ever-changing car seat laws do they have to be 16 now before they can sit in the front seat?) On top of all these things I can't help but question: Are all the wireless signals and the heavy metals in our personal devices going to kill or make us sick? We can hardly seem to escape them anymore and I often see them being used as baby chew toys...

Whoa, that got serious :) These are real issues, yet I can't help but ask myself: Should I really even bother to post this train of thought? Are my questions going to get people thinking or just going to make them roll their eyes at me for talking about these things because they love their fun technology so much they think I am ultra-paranoid or possibly judging them for raising my concerns? I have no desire to judge or to offend! I think like with all technology - the use of it can be a major blessing, and it can be abused. I feel like I have to be really careful to use it as a tool for good in my life and in my kids' lives and not let it take over. I wonder how many others can relate... I wonder what it's all going to look like 10 years from now...!?