Technology and Self-Reliance

We live in an amazing world. Our stores are filled with the items that would dazzle people from a generation ago, and we can even purchase our items online. We eat nearly whatever we want, at any time that we want it. Our entertainment choices are enormous, and again, tailored to our own individual tastes and consumption schedules. As a species, we are interconnected like no other time in our history. We literally can talk to someone, face to face, on the other side of the globe instantaneously. We can physically be on the other side of the globe in a day. We have an enormous amount of information available to us, at our fingertips, whenever we need it. What we take for granted would have been unimaginable luxuries, magic even, to most of the humans who have ever lived.

What makes this unimaginable lifestyle possible? Our technology gives us our collective lifestyles. It allows for the product distribution chain that fills our stores with affordable goods from around the world, and it also allows for the food distribution chain that allows us to eat whatever we want, no matter the season. It gives us that enormous choice of entertainment options that are streamed onto our devices when we are ready to relax; I can even get Netflix and YouTube on my Iphone. Technology also allows us to communicate in real time with any other person on Earth when it is convenient for both; I often use the KakaoTalk App to talk with my children and to send pictures and video.  Technology places the compendium of the world’s knowledge at our feet, to be used when we see fit. How could our technology be anything other than a gift, a boon and an indispensable resource?

Yet, there is a dark side to our technology, a side that many people do not consider. In order to afford all those wonderful things in the stores, in order to sample the variety of food available, in order to be entertained at the drop of a hat, we need the technology that makes it all possible...without the technology, all the things disappear. No more phone calls, luxury items from around the world, or instant entertainment. We don’t want that to happen; we will do anything to avoid that from happening. And so, we do.

We live in places where we don’t necessarily want to live in order to be close to employment that pays for our access to what technology offers. We do things that we don’t necessarily want to do in order to pay for what technology offers. We trade the moments of our lives for things and possessions that we believe we desperately need. We use technology for work, and we use it for play. We conform and become dependent and lose what is naturally our birthright – self-reliance - all because of technology.

I don't think I would ever want to give up and cut the cord from all technology, but I do like the idea of unplugging from time to time. There are several things that are recommended:

1. Don't charge the phone in the bedroom at night; put it in your bathroom. This way you have it close by for emergencies, but it's far enough away so you won't be tempted to look at email or social media when you should be resting.

2. Shut off the television, computer, and video games for scheduled "time-outs" each week. Replace the coach potato time with a walk in nature, a bike ride, or a game like basketball or golf.

3. Pick up a book...I know, I have a kindle, too, but there's something special about holding a book in your hands. I especially advocate for reading out loud, especially to children. It is important to model good reading to children. Why not visit your local library...there are books, magazines, and newspapers to delight every age.

4. Take advantage to meditate. If you want an introduction to different meditations, I have an online course available, Developing a Meditation Practice: 

https://www.ahousewithfourrooms.com/offers/QFxnfcTq

What roles does technology play in your life? More importantly, how do you think you'd do without it? I think of the Facebook posts that picture a beautiful home in paradise and it asks: Would you live here for one year without Internet service?

 I know I appreciate technology and would be lost without it, but I also know the value of taking some time off from it all...I have self-reliance...I can survive.

Cheers!

Lisa