Mindful in a Mindless World

I am a little lucky when it comes to this topic because I come from a time when technology did not run everything. I know what is it like to use a phone that is plugged into the wall and attached to a cord. I have had several numbers published in the phone book and when I wanted to text a friend it was in the form of a note that we passed back and forth between classes.

I know, I know you are all sitting back rolling your eyes at the old lady about to say how it was back in the olden days. First off, not an old lady, just older than most of you. Second, is you guys really do not know just how different a technology free childhood was. I know this blog is not meant to be about my childhood but, when I was reading about the topic it was all I could think about. We were not distracted by technology all the time simply because it really wasn’t there. Now, of course, I am not a complete dinosaur. We used computers  but not like they do today. The only time when I was a kid that I used a computer was at school to do typing test and math games. There were no cell phones (unit I was in high school), ipads, or ipods. If we wanted to talk to someone we had to call them, visit them, a send them a letter. If we wanted to listen to music we put a cassette tape in the boom box and if I missed this weeks episode of Fresh Prince of Bel Air, too bad there is no HULU Netflix or DVR. We spent time with our friends and families. I look at my daughter today at it is so different.

Now with that said, things are different for me now too. Because then came the 90’s and technology kinda blew up. So, as all these new technologies were introduced I  found myself wrapped up in them the same as the next person. With that said, I think I am fairly mindful with my time spent online. The only thing I get lost on is Facebook. I can lose time on there without realizing it. That is my only social network though. I have only one blog and it is for this class, same for my twitter. I do have a few other things like Pinterest and Instagram although I do not know why because I hardly ever look at them. A majority of my online time is spent working on school stuff but, I will often have Facebook open on another window and click back and forth. Because if this it takes me three times as long to do an assignment. I also lose time looking stuff up. I love to learn new things so if I have a question I ask google. I spend a lot of time aimlessly searching around for answers to life questions. There are times I find it all annoying and just want it to go away. Recently we took a 4 day trip to Texas. While there, I did not turn my computer on once and was on my phone very little and it was nice.

Sadly I will admit that I am not as present as I should be. In his Ted Talk Paul Miller talks about not being present for his sister in and conversation and I feel this is so true. I look around all the time and everyone, myself included is on their phone. My friends and I have a running joke because we get together one night a week to hang out and at some point we are all on our phone. So are we really hanging out?  By doing this I think we forget how to interact with people. We forget how to make and maintain friendship on a physical level. We become more comfortable talking to people from behind a screen.

I do not think it is all bad. Actually I think it is a wonderful way to stay connected to friends and family who do not live close. It offers a way to communicate with people you do not get to see on a regular basis and be a more active part of each others life. The downfall is while we remember to send a Facebook message to a friends from high school we forget to stop in a say hi to Grandma who lives in a home down the street, then grandma is gone and we are too late.

The internet and all the different technologies are great but equally valuable is real life connections and situation. We need to find a healthy balance.