I was recently in Toronto, Canada where I biked along the lakeshore, took the ferry out to Toronto Island and biked some more before relaxing and playing frisbee on some nice beaches. When I got back in the car to head to Niagara Falls, however, I was without a map - hard copy or on my various devices without an internet or cell connection. I quickly realized how dependent I was on my smart phone, and how dumb I had become without it.
Indeed, having a smart phone is an addiction for many of us. Those without cell or smart phones just want some peace and quite, even paying to get away from technology for a weekend. The video below dramatizes what our lives have become in the smart phone / dumb person era:
Indeed, having a smart phone is an addiction for many of us. Those without cell or smart phones just want some peace and quite, even paying to get away from technology for a weekend. The video below dramatizes what our lives have become in the smart phone / dumb person era:
The question then becomes, are we more or less connected now in the age of the mobile internet? Some would argue that we are more connected to those far away but less connected to those around us, especially those we are physically with, and even ourselves. There is an app for everything to get more and more done via multitasking, etc., and the more we do the more we have to manage and communicate in a never-ending cycle.
What we really need is a breath of fresh air and to do less. However, it's hard to exit the race when everyone else is caught up in the same tide. We have to come together, either to escape to technology-free weekends or to agree corporately that our sphere of work is not going to expect us to be available 24/7. And the surprising thing is, when we set limits in when we work, we actually become more productive.
Go figure. But first, stay, relax, take some time to be outdoors and remember what it's like to be a human being without touching something electronic.
* It's not actually Canada that makes me less smart; just not having a cell plan that works in Canada!
What we really need is a breath of fresh air and to do less. However, it's hard to exit the race when everyone else is caught up in the same tide. We have to come together, either to escape to technology-free weekends or to agree corporately that our sphere of work is not going to expect us to be available 24/7. And the surprising thing is, when we set limits in when we work, we actually become more productive.
Go figure. But first, stay, relax, take some time to be outdoors and remember what it's like to be a human being without touching something electronic.
* It's not actually Canada that makes me less smart; just not having a cell plan that works in Canada!
UPDATE: A blessing I found in a section called "MAPLESS" from Jan Richardson's "In the Sanctuary of Women", p. 305.
And so let us give praise
for the places
that are mapless
chartless
without direction or sign.
Let us give thanks
for all they call forth:
for the questions
they require,
for the imagination
they summon,
for the path
they make
through the territory
of the heart.
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