Well, it’s over. We’ve been off the grid to one degree or another and have discovered we’re not “all that”.
We don’t need to be accessible to everyone all the time and surprisingly the world is still spinning and no one we were responsible for died!
The biggest loss for me was my iphone and every app that goes with it (read here). Apparently I’m not alone in my attachment. Look at the stats I read this week:
- There are 7 billion people on Earth. 5.1 billion own a cell phone. 4.2 billion own a toothbrush. (Mobile Marketing Association Asia, 2011)
- It takes 90 minutes for the average person to respond to an email. It takes 90 seconds for the average person to respond to a text message. (CTIA.org, 2011)
- 1% of all smart phone users have their phone within arm’s reach 24/7 – (Morgan Stanley, 2012)
- It takes 26 hours for the average person to report a lost wallet. It takes 68 minutes for them to report a lost phone. (Unisys, 2012)
The benefits and drawbacks to technology and media were both intensified this week, but the biggest lesson for me is that I’m Media ADD – totally undisciplined in this area. I need BOUNDARIES like Lindsay Lohan needs a better rehab program.
Confession: I may be more responsive to my phone than I am to God.
There are no magic beans in this experiment. In each area it’s going to take some conscious decisions about new habits and boundaries if we are going to move the dial even a millimeter. Sooo… Help me out…
Do you have boundaries regarding media? What are they?
For example, do you only check email or Facebook or Twitter at certain times of the day? Put your phone away? Or only use your phone for “necessary” stuff like calls and map quest? Go without internet on the weekends? Guard times of silence in your car or other places?
I LOVE paying attention to this! One of the other consequences of this ‘right now, more important than ANYTHING’ device/media is a social pressure, that says you’re not ‘in’ if you’re not aboard (tough especially for kids), and the message that if I don’t respond within the minute/hour/day, there is something WRONG with both of us, or the relationship between us. O for the days of snail mail…
You only say that because you’re an introvert and you hate answering your phone! 🙂
Is he really an introvert? Or does his CALL require silence/relief? 😉
Laughing out loud! 🙂 Actually we’re on opposite ends of the spectrum on the phone thing and I definitely can learn from him!
I miss snail mail too – and the joys of a normal phonecall or coffee face-to-face to discuss something important. I think way too much gets communicated via email and text. I’ve decided that I won’t read anything longer than a sentence on my iphone. I wish that we could all agree not to express feelings and emotions via any type of e-media. There is something so completely impersonal and lacking in those interactions: voice and eye contact! If you have a different opinion, I’d love to understand.
It really IS complicated isn’t it Jeanie!? Balancing the convenience of “connectivity” with the depth that comes from deep authentic, face to face conversation…
I wouldn’t be struggling with this if I didn’t love and desire connection with my GRANDS! *Sigh*
Technology in general seems to be de-personalizing us. Pre-recorded music accompanies singers at church, we read song lyrics on a screen instead of from a hymnal, and everyone has an electronic device of some sort with which they communicate and/or occupy their time. Checking emails, whether from a phone or a computer, takes precedence over letter writing 90% of the time–although I hear time and again from people who say, “If I wasn’t sending you an email, you wouldn’t hear from me at all!” (I STILL write hand-written notes in my Christmas cards, especially for those older folks on my list who don’t appreciate computerized letters.)
On the flip side, I have many friends with whom I communicate on a regular basis by email or on Facebook. Seeing my words in print makes me rethink many times before I hit “send”, where in talking I am too prone to quick quips that need to NOT be seen or heard!
I applaud you for taking a “sabbatical” and getting back in touch with God. A very timely post!
Thanks Shauna! “De-personalizing” is a good word…maybe stemming from the faster speed of life?
Also, I absolutely agree with the danger of that “send” button! So easy to mis-interpret our tone through e-mail!