Danger Brewing?

Full disclosure … I love technology.  I sit here connected to my Wi-Fi, typing on my laptop, streaming a music station, browsing pictures taken on my phone that were automatically uploaded to my cloud and accessed through a folder on my computer.  I use GPS. My news comes from apps.  I Facebook, Tweet and Skype.  Within 15 feet of where I sit I have 7 devices connected to the internet.

While this seems a bit obsessive as I write it down, I am sure that a lot of households today have a similar set up.  Technology has become an integral part of a lot of our lives.  So much so that the greatest danger to our country is no longer nuclear or chemical weapons, but an EMP (for more info read this http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/2010-10-26-emp_N.htm).

I hypothesize that there may be a greater danger brewing …

A few years ago some friends of ours adopted a baby girl from China.  Carly, the child, was considered by China to be unadoptable because she is an albino.  In China, an albino is considered to be bad luck and it is likely that Carly was hardly, if ever, held, touched or loved.  If workers did have to touch Carly, they most likely wore gloves, creating the possibility that Carly had not had contact with human skin since birth.

We read this … I read this and the thing that strikes me most is the possibility that little Carly had no human contact for such a long time.  It seems so horrible and sad … and it is. Yet here we are – “plugged” into the world – but unplugged from true reality.  We have hundreds of “friends” but are lucky to have one person we can actually share our hearts with.  By reaching more people, in more places, any time, day or night, we are at the same time creating barriers to real human contact. 

Firsts … steps, words, lost teeth, days of school.  Exciting … vacations, excursions, adventures, news.  Funny … sayings, stories, pictures videos.  I am sure if you scan your Facebook and Twitter feeds you will find your fill of all of this and more. 

Money trouble, alcoholism, depression, loneliness, rejection, panic, desperation, fear, jealousy … how much of this are you seeing of this on your “friends” walls?

I don’t know where I am going with all of this and if you feel judged, please reread the first paragraph.   The purpose of this blog is to begin to figure out how to simplify life … how to make it less complicated and then ultimately more meaningful and rewarding.  

I think from here, we should take a look at the beginning.  Until next time …