The Vortex

Collectively we are in a vortex of technology each waking moment of our lives now. I often tell myself I need to “unplug” for reasons purely of sanity. There is much to be said about how our lives have been permanently altered by our iPhones and Android devices. I marvel in utter amazement of just how many functions a “phone” can do to make our lives more accommodating. More recently for instance I had received a PDF in my email and as I opened it in its miniature form I realized that I could print it wirelessly to the printer in the office it had detected. No longer did I have to fire up the computer, get online and open the mail. I did it in seconds from my iPhone. Pretty cool. 

But I need to disengage. When I come to spin class for instance I always leave my device in the locker because KJ trained me early that for this hour it was all about us and not anyone else. It made sense at the time because as she said everything would still be there when we are done. But guilty I am as soon as the class is over and it’s hard for me not to check my phone for who might have called or texted even before my shower. Sometimes I am able but for the most part I don my glasses (Optical Image) and light up the darkened screen. I am addicted and even though I am an alcoholic I suspect that many of us are tied to the hitching post that is our phone. 

I was talking to my friend DJ on the phone just now and she on the other hand goes on vacation and leaves her phone home. She doesn’t even know where the phone is from day to day and has to use the feature “find my phone” just to retrieve it. She has not given in to technology. DJ is the rare creature that doesn’t take her phone from room to room in her house. I need to take a page out of my friend Debbie’s book. Phones have made our lives easier but we are now savagely codependent on them. Think about the panic that sets in every time we misplace our phone. We might as well be hurtling in space for all the anxiety it causes. 

And dear friends this is just the beginning. When the information highway starts coming through our glasses like Google Glass we will realize what indentured servants went through. 

Mood Shifters

Is it possible to catch someone else’s depression? It’s easily understandable that we can catch another’s cold.  But is it really possible to get an infection like a dis-ease of the mind too? I can only venture that it’s true. Through self-analysis we can usually tell what ails us. We are upset with a loved one, worried about our future or even lamenting a situation in our chosen vocation. It just never occurred to me that a transfer of feelings like depression could be airborne so to speak. It might make sense to make this connection to compare it to when we are around happy people the feeling we come away with is that sense we are lifted as well so why not depressed too?  Lately I have found that when I encounter an individual with a deep sadness or a chronic depression that I come away feeling that my soul is sick as well. 

Depression can be like a spider’s web we can’t free ourselves from when we have no weapons to fight it off. I can usually shake these feelings off but when the anxiety can’t be named it has a sense of foreboding I can only describe it as free floating. It takes creativity to ward off these evil spirits with positive self-talk by taking inventory of what I am grateful for.  When I can name what I am ‘down’ about it seems easier to extricate myself from the malaise. I’m able to wrap my brain around something tangible something I can rationalize. When the words remain hidden I need to conjure up my own incantation to ward off my fear. The false evidence appearing real whether it’s someone else’s or mine needs to be banished by the things we are grateful for. That might not necessarily have us leaping for joy but it can usually counter balance any feelings of despair and loneliness.  

Energy Vampires stay away!

My Father

My father still lives although he no longer knows me. There’s no more Hello Jack! But I said all the things I needed to tell him when he had sense and sensibility. I’m glad I did because I’ve always loved him not always liked him but now I no longer hold resentment towards him.