I was at a restaurant the other week. I was making a reservation, and the hostess asked for my phone number. When I gave it to her, she told me that I would be texted when our table was ready. I thought, “Wow. This place is really high tech.” But then again, isn’t that the way of the world now?
How many people live by their computers? I know I am one. We can get information on what is going on anywhere in the world in seconds. We can search huge data bases of information to find out almost anything we want. We can watch videos of cats 24/7. Yes, everything is high tech. And those that can’t deal with high tech struggle to understand the simplest things.
As an ex-computer programmer, I enjoy the gadgetry that I used to dream about when I was a child. I used to read a lot of science fiction wishing that I had some of the tools described, and now I do. But what have we lost in this high tech culture?
While we can send a text to anyone anywhere on the planet, we have lost the ability to truly connect and communicate with others. Most of our conversations are limited to words on a screen in a text message, in which we lose the true meaning and emotion behind what we are saying no matter how many emojis we put on it. We end up being the victims of auto-incorrect which swaps out words for what we’ve typed because it thinks it knows what we want to say, but truly doesn’t.
In this high tech world, we need to find a way to relax, and I don’t mean sitting by the pool reading our cell phones. We need to disconnect from technology and let go of everything. We need to do something low tech so we can unplug from the universe, even just for an hour or so.
There are many things we can do. Go sit by the ocean for a bit, or a pond, or lake (if you have access). Sit on the patio and read a book (and I’m not talking e-book). Meditate. Get a massage or an energy session. Walk around the block. Sit in the back yard and listen to the sounds of nature. Be bored for a little bit. Do something to change your plugged-in status, and breathe.
In a world of high tech everything, we need to spend a little time with low tech relaxation to survive. Take that time.