Back to Basics

by Butternose
(Click on the song "Riddle" and get a feel for how it set the mood on this entry)

I know the phrase "Everything happens for a reason" is said a lot, but I am a true believer in this on good and bad occasions.
A little less than a month ago I packed up everybody and we headed south to visit family. I would have loved to leave the laptop at home but the reality was, I pay most of our bills through the darned thing so it was a must have on this trip as bills would be due during our 2-week long visit.
I packed it along with pure intentions on only using it for the bills but then my mind went into blog, email and instant search withdraw. I knew the laptop was easily accessible so it was hard to resist. I was up early one morning before anyone else so I decided I would take advantage of that quiet time and get online.
Well, the darn laptop wouldn't start-up. Time after time, I opened it and closed it and pressed the power button. As the minutes passed I began to feel the frustration deep inside me grow stronger. Finally, I closed the laptop lid, set the laptop aside and I selfishly prayed to God and asked him to make it work. After all, all I wanted to do was get on my blog, check out the latest on other blogs, check email, search for who sang that song my mother-in-law & I heard on the radio the day before, and who knows where else that would have lead me in the internet world.
Luckily, I had packed my latest Writer's Digest Magazine. So I began to read an article and halfway through reading I reached over and punched the power button on the laptop .
Ah, the sweet sound of a computer powering up. Fans blowing, screen flashing words and shapes and making forward progress towards endless possibilities.
The funny thing was, once it started I was so involved in the magazine that I no longer cared to get online. I was more interested in finishing the magazine. I think my eyes and brain enjoyed looking at the magazine more than looking at the laptop, too.
Once we got home, this incident occurred 2 more times. Each time I calmly set the laptop aside and began reading something that I have been putting off for too long. And, each time I reached over to start the laptop it booted right up. This freak occurrence put something into perspective for me.
I decided that it's time for me to get back to basics - for the most part.
I began to think about all of those things that the convenience of technology provides for us. Although technology is great progress, sometimes I feel that the convenience of technology can numb raw knowledge.
Here are a few instances where I believe technology has numbed our minds:

1. Spelling: The little red line that flows under a misspelled word when typing and all we have to do is right-click on it and allow the computer to spell it for us. Solution: Attempt to correct it on your own before right-clicking.
2. Research: Several words come to mind: Google, Wikipedia, Yahoo, Dogpile and any of the other hundreds of search engines. Solution: Take the long road and support your local library. Look in a library and physically hold research in your hands.
   
3. Lost time: Did you ever mean to just get online "real quick?" Yeah, me too and before I know it 2 hours have gone by and all I have done is nothing. I missed out on a sunrise or a sunset or playing with my 2-year-old or having a decent conversation with my husband. Solution: Set a time limit. Look at that little clock in the bottom right-hand corner of your computer screen and call it quits no matter what.

Speaking of which, I have to go. But before I go, I'd like to say that I appreciate technology and what it has done for the world. I'm only suggesting that we take time to get back to the basics of life, stop to smell the roses, all that jazz.
Something else that is said too much but that I believe strongly in, "Life's too short."