Techno Anxiety

I was just talking with a dear family friend, in her nineties, an amazing woman! I admire her deeply and we just have the most enlightening conversations. 

We were discussing technology and how in spite of all the great advancements, something is missing. 

I begin the day answering emails, then move on to the washer and dryer, back onto the computer, where if I am not writing I can order gifts, etc., all spent indoors, without ever seeing another human being.  Yes, there are up sides to all this, Milo FaceTime for example, and I don't want to beat my clothes on a rock by the river either, however the down side is what I like to call techno anxiety.

When I forget my cell I freak out, but there are moments when I wish I had left it home.  Like when I'm in the fitting room and I have a shirt stuck on my head and my phone rings.  Yes, yes, I know I can ignore it, or call back, or turn my sound off, yes I know all those things, but I'm always in emergency mode, so that won't work for me.  Evolution has made some things easier and other's worse.  You really can't get away from it all, can you?  And it's also done away with a certain degree of intimacy.

When I was little I sat outside while my mother hung our laundry on the clothes line in the back yard. We'd listen to the bees humming, the birds chirping. Breathe in the fresh air and inevitably a neighbor or two would come over to chat.

My sweet friend sighed, "Life was simple.  Now everyone is constantly looking at their phones, not at each other.  Even with all these conveniences everyone seems preoccupied and stressed."  I agreed and wondered, are we saving any time, or just piling more on our to-do list? 

And so as I thought about our conversation it occurred to me that although I feel buck naked without my cell, perhaps we could all stand a bit of detoxing.  I'm not sure how, but perhaps turning off my phone and going for a walk to hear the birds chirping and the bees buzzing might be a good start.