My tendency is to write about with grim malaise and skepticism at the future. I write of the dangers, misuses, and perversions of technology in our culture today. So quick and able to write of the bad, the good is swept away like breadcrumbs. Their trail being lost and hope of redemption being hidden.
Part of this is due to the widespread writing from those, like myself, critical and concerned with the direction of platforms, devices, and subcultures. When we imbibe pessimism, we inject it in our work. This problem is true for anyone living in the current digital ecosphere that encourages emotional over intellectual participation. Our feeds (both digital and analog) become the composition of our attitudes. And our attitudes become the tenor of our lives.
The truth is that life can be filled with abundant goodness not simply because of prohibition around devices. Fullness can be found in the careful restructuring of technology, knowing what it strives to be and helping it reach peak potential…
What do you really need from a phone? Communication, navigation, audio-entertainment. Is the rest just clutter? What alternative devices could augment your simplifying?
Could carrying around a pocket journal and pencil reshape your relationship to Google, note-taking, and information? Would your work benefit from a unique approach to knowledge-gathering that couples patience with permanency?
How does the entertainment in your life form you? Does the world of analog technology offer a healthier path to wholeness? Entertainment seeks to keep us current with world events, celebrities, and moments, but would recreation like reading and writing, music and painting keep you current with eternity?
Though it’s hard for me to admit, more important than quitting social media or getting rid of your smartphone is how we intentionally craft a life around values and people. So much can be extracted from the perks of instruments. Just as so much can be lost by the pitfalls of devices. Explore the effects, understand the history, and judge the baggage of integration as harshly as you can. Find what works for you, but ensure technologies are additive. It’s a choice we make, but it becomes something that makes us.
