Anyone who knows me knows that I’m on a computer for a good chunk of the day. I write, read, code, develop, design, research, watch, listen and find all by the stroke of a key. I no longer purchase newspapers, and only recently picked up my first printed book in over a year.
In the process of thinking about why I don’t buy newspapers more often, and why I fell off the book wagon, I began to remember how very nostalgic it is to flip through a newspaper, and how very relaxing it is to spend a few hours in a bookstore. Coffee in-hand, walking up and down towering aisles of books, looking for that perfect story you won’t have any trouble ducking into for a week.
Technology, as wonderful as it can be, has consumed us. And I for one feel so far removed from the basics, I’ve forgotten how to spend quality time with them.
Well, until now.
Maybe we, as a society, need to utilize our high-tech brakes more often. Ironically enough, I just told my latest social media group that the NY Times Twitter page is so fantastic because it allows the user to scroll through their articles and pick out exactly what they want. Now I feel like telling them sometimes the fastest way isn’t the best way; sometimes we do move too quickly; sometimes we do need to take a step back and live a few decades in the past in order to regain some sanity in this fast-paced world. Dare we call this a “Technology Detox”?
I’m willing to bet, if even only a tiny bit, you would benefit from that.
A cold trackpad, or glass screen, doesn’t feel the same as a freshly-printed book in your hands. And no RSS feed can compare with sitting outside during the summer, while having breakfast, as you flip through the pages of your local newspaper. The computer screen glare alone would just ruin that moment, don’t you think?
Life isn’t meant to be rushed — It’s meant to be enjoyed, slowly. It’s not that long, you know. So why try to cram as much as possible into it? We could be selling ourselves short by focusing on quantity instead of quality.
