You know, I'm not so sure we need to recover from our past. The incessant whining about how we were dealt the short stick in life, the job we don't like, the house or car we'd like to have, the aches and pains of our ailing bodies, the terrible job our parents did raising us, the poor little Bible thumpers that hate us and discriminate us, and all of the rest. Instead, I'm sort of thinking that we need to be rescued from our present.....the glib course of self-destruction that we've finely crafted for ourselves. The present days in which we live are pretty funky...and not necessarily in a good way. I feel sometimes like we're on a breakneck course through the decades -- speeding along toward who knows what destination with little regard for our globe or those who we rub shoulders with from day to day. We require our iPhones, our laptops, our time and space, our Bluetooth, good service wherever we go, quiet neighbors, Apple this or that, family and friends who we like being around and who we expect to love us in spite of the crap we drag into their lives -- and we're not willing to sacrifice or go without any of it. Our pocketbooks dwindle and our economy ebbs and tides at the brink of destruction. It's not a pretty picture.
We no longer seem to need the peacefulness of the night nor the solitude of the single first ray of sun in the mornings. We seem to have misplaced the eroticism of a summer garden tomato splashing about in our mouths in exchange for a cardboard box of processed food. We apparently find it a waste of time to have to crank and crank and crank an ice cream maker while sprinkling tiny bits of rock salt and ice on it in order to close our eyes, throw our heads back, and enjoy some of the world's grandest glories.....homemade ice cream. (With fresh peaches, please.) We find ourselves glancing at the time on our mobile phones and wondering exactly how much time we need to endure on our neighbor's patio -- that is, if we even know who our neighbors are. We have taken to enjoying the inside of our cars more than the outside of the universe. We find it difficult to endure a 90-minute black and white flick of yesteryear for fear our Facebook friends have "updated" or our Twitter buddies are tweeting/ twitting/whatever it's called.
Yeah folks, I'm afraid it's today that we need to recover from.
16 comments:
See what happens when you get an iPhone - you become an iTard and then you're out to ruin it for the rest of us. Pffft - who cares what someone twatted...
wow.
I second what Breenlantern said...
"wow" but I add a "here here!"
maybe I should have said ouch instead.
Ill share a quick experience that I observed on the train home today. 2 attractive young girls, probably 14 or 15 boarded the train. One was holding an iPhone with the headphones connected. One ear piece was in one girls ear and the other in the other girls ear. You could hear the music turned up.
After a few minutes of observing them both texting, I realized they were having a conversation with each other via typing a text message to each other, simply entering the message, passing the iPhone, and then deleting and retyping the response. Not a word said. Interesting. Just thought I would share.....
I would opt for some good conversation...my hubby and I have shared a few of those over the years on Portland's public transporation system...haven't we honey?
BOING!!!! You said it pal. Hugs
Not fair... now I want ice cream! But it's well after midnight Atlanta time, so that's probably not a good idea!
well said!
speed kills
I have never given up on the important - nay, vital - needs of life, which include solitude and quiet and a slow pace. may it always be so!
Brilliant post. Simply brilliant.
As I read your post, I thought of the title line from the old show: "Stop the World; I Want to Get Off". (meant in the original meaning of the phrase. ;) ..but, yeah, that, too.)
We are much like the frog thrown into the pot of cool water on the stove. The water us getting warmer and we know it, but we've cannot see a way out of our present predicament.
I think I'll make ice cream today. With pecans, not peaches thank you.
"We require our iPhones, our laptops, our time and space, our Bluetooth, good service wherever we go, quiet neighbors, Apple this or that, family and friends who we like being around and who we expect to love us in spite of the crap we drag into their lives -- and we're not willing to sacrifice or go without any of it."
in this house, I have a computer BUT no blog, no twitter, no facebook, no myspace. also no cell phone, no bluetooth, no ipod, no iphone.
I listen to my baseball games on the radio. I never watch tv. I know several neighbors on both sides and across the street. I read books. I knit. I like train travel (sorry, lewis). I like baking my own bread.
I enjoy silence (my favorite sound). I don't shop at big box stores either, preferring the local owned favorites. I drive an 8 year old hyundai and fill its gas tank every 2 weeks.
I like my ME time, that hour after spouse has gone to work and I am at home with the cats for company before I have to get ready for work.
perhaps this is why people tell me I look 38, yet I am 55 (almost). could be the hair dye, but I digress...
and I don't give a fat rat's ass as to whether I am living a "bad life" because I don't buy shit I don't need. I am content and happy with myself.
for all those who say "it can't be done", my response is BULLSHIT!
Ok, Ann Marie....a double "here-here!!!"
I'll add my voice . . . all well said! I find that I want to savor each moment in the present . . . all the trite cliches come to mind: time moves on, seize the day!
Crap... well, I was going to comment here, but now I am convicted to shut the darned computer down and get outside!
This is the spirit I try to have in mind when making selections. Just because you CAN doesn't always mean you should. We don't HAVE to adopt every new technological trend. Its OKAY to forget your mobile phone at home once in a while. Its OKAY to miss a Facebook update or two. We'll survive, just like our parents did who never imaged portable phones and social networking sites.
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