To tweet or not to tweet?
Everyone (at least the under a certain age category) seems to be tweeting. There's a university on the East coast that has declared a week's ban on social media. Kids are to see how they can get along without Facebook (FB) and Twitter for a whole week (5 days). But wait, they can still use their cell phones to text and email accounts. Let's do a bit of a reality check here... no social media. They have to actually call, text or email each other or talk face to face to see what they are doing. In other words, instant messaging with a collective group of people is what's banned? Will this really make a difference? Apparently they think so, but the kids will have to write a report on it at the end of this little experiment. Perhaps someone will give a daily blog by blog account of their experience since they will have so much free time?
Tweeting. A year ago, twitter was for celebrities like Ashton Kutcher who was trying to see how many followers he could get (over 5.8 million, last count), and then you have folks like Britney Spears who paid someone to tweet for her. Isn't that what the paparazzi is for? (I wonder how many define their worth by how many people "follow" them?)
Why is it that we feel like we have to tell everyone our every move? Yesterday when my plane landed from Albuquerque, Drew and I, tired, hot and hungry arrived at my car to find the battery dead due to the interior light left on. Sigh. I'd like to blame it on my 4 year old, however, I'm pretty sure it was me who left it on. Immediately, I commented on Facebook (FB) that we were "stranded in the parking garage and why is it that 5 cars in 45 minutes have passed us by?" Then, an update: "Rescued but now we've dropped the keys and can't find them." (Note: Tapas (something which is difficult used to our benefit) was required. Pushing it away or pulling it toward me only creates more agitation and aggravation.)
Flashback: When I was in college, way back in the 90's... no email, no computer, no cell phone. How in the world did I get things done or stay connected with people? When I got in to Texas A&M, my dad bought me a word processor. I used carbon paper to take notes for a deaf student in English, and used the MAC lab to do my reports and saved them on a floppy disc. I didn't own a computer and the word processor was too heavy & bulky to carry around. Email came in my final semester at school. And, even then, I was hesitant to get an email account. The only people using it were the profs who would email homework and reading assignments, and I could still get those in class. So, why check email? I finally got a cell phone, at the insistence of my mom who didn't want me to get stranded somewhere. For years, I never turned it on. Just kept it for emergencies.
Tweeting. A year ago, twitter was for celebrities like Ashton Kutcher who was trying to see how many followers he could get (over 5.8 million, last count), and then you have folks like Britney Spears who paid someone to tweet for her. Isn't that what the paparazzi is for? (I wonder how many define their worth by how many people "follow" them?)
Why is it that we feel like we have to tell everyone our every move? Yesterday when my plane landed from Albuquerque, Drew and I, tired, hot and hungry arrived at my car to find the battery dead due to the interior light left on. Sigh. I'd like to blame it on my 4 year old, however, I'm pretty sure it was me who left it on. Immediately, I commented on Facebook (FB) that we were "stranded in the parking garage and why is it that 5 cars in 45 minutes have passed us by?" Then, an update: "Rescued but now we've dropped the keys and can't find them." (Note: Tapas (something which is difficult used to our benefit) was required. Pushing it away or pulling it toward me only creates more agitation and aggravation.)
Flashback: When I was in college, way back in the 90's... no email, no computer, no cell phone. How in the world did I get things done or stay connected with people? When I got in to Texas A&M, my dad bought me a word processor. I used carbon paper to take notes for a deaf student in English, and used the MAC lab to do my reports and saved them on a floppy disc. I didn't own a computer and the word processor was too heavy & bulky to carry around. Email came in my final semester at school. And, even then, I was hesitant to get an email account. The only people using it were the profs who would email homework and reading assignments, and I could still get those in class. So, why check email? I finally got a cell phone, at the insistence of my mom who didn't want me to get stranded somewhere. For years, I never turned it on. Just kept it for emergencies.
Fast forward 15 years, I'm embarrassed to list all the technology that I "own", let's just say I'm more than wired, and I am now a yoga tweeter with 10 followers.
Technology - instead of fighting it, I'm definitely surrendering to it. Allowing it to give me more creative venues. A $75 therapy session recently revealed to me, my intense need to be connected. To feel connected to others. Which just shows how much we all want to experience something greater than ourselves. I hope to cultivate a habit of prayer, mediation & practice (Isvarapranidhana) as much as I have a habit of logging on to FB... if I can't connect authentically with myself, how can I expect to have an authentic connection with others?
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