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You are here: Home / Archives for technology

technology

The Season of Stuff

12/03/2019 by John 1 Comment

Mock Black Friday Sale Advertisement

The season of stuff is officially upon us and it’s hitting me like a fever. The constant assault of advertisements and marketing emails is wearing me down as it often does this time of year. It’s like the water torture where little drops are rhythmically hitting you in the forehead. At first you might be able to ignore it, but eventually, it drives you insane.

The first desire was for a new watch, triggered by REI emails promising 20% off one full-priced item. Thankfully, GPS devices were excluded from that promotion. I then hunted around and discovered I could get the watch through a pro-deal for even less than the coupon would have allowed. Once I found this out, my frenzy dissipated. If I could get the watch at a good deal anytime, suddenly it wasn’t at all important that I got it now.

This drove home for me the fundamental marketing lesson of scarcity. Make people feel like they’ve got to act fast or else they will miss out on a deal. If I really needed the watch, I’d buy it whenever at whatever cost was required.

I wish I could say that getting past my moment of intense desire over buying a new watch allowed me to let go of it completely, but I still want that damn watch. Do I think it will make me run faster and with more stamina? Will it’s smaller size look more stylish on my bony wrists and not accentuate the skinniness of my arms quite so much? Surely knowing my heart rate by simply glancing down at my wrist will make my life better. Right?

My current big desire is for a new iPhone, and of course it needs to be the more expensive model. It’s got three cameras you know, because…, because…,

…because three is more than one?

I can justify a new phone more than the watch. Last April while living in New Zealand, I dropped my current phone onto the pavement and severely cracked the screen. But that was seven months ago. The phone still does way more than what a phone is supposed to do.

No, it’s camera doesn’t take great pictures in low light and I can’t just look at it to unlock it, but would these things have any tangible impact at all on my satisfaction with life? Meanwhile, the retirement funds are not yet topped off for the year, and I DO want to retire someday.

There are plenty of less expensive wants as well. New Bluetooth headphones (noise-canceling of course), an Apple pencil so I can doodle even though I have paper and pencil and still rarely doodle, and a bicycle. Ok, that last one is kind of expensive as well.

None of it will make me happy. This I know, and yet it is hard for my senses to internalize this knowledge. The want of stuff causes the heart to speed up and breathing to grow shallower. Fondling a new device at the Apple store feels like being on a date and wanting so badly to give them a kiss.

As I wade through these powerful feelings during the season of stuff, I hope to be mindful of my urges. I want to be able to ask myself some simple questions.

  • Does it serve a useful purpose?
  • Does it provide joy?
  • Do I already have something that serves this purpose or provides joy in this way?
  • Can I get more value from the things I already have?

Like all feelings, the ones these objects of desire incite will rise and fall. I need to remember this. I need to hold on while the waves pass. I need to remember that the times in my life when I’ve lived the most are also the times that I’ve had the least.

Filed Under: Lifestyle Tagged With: mindfulness, technology

Empty Your Day

10/26/2018 by John 1 Comment

Hills near Wellington, New Zealand
For the first time in many weeks, I have an empty day in front of me. Empty days frighten me. I am afraid I will begin the day with a sense of hope and promise about all I will get done and that I will end the day being disappointed with myself for not doing it. But empty days can also be my best days. They can fill me up at times when I feel drained of vitality.

The problem with empty days occurs when I let the glowing rectangles I’ve surrounded myself with take charge. I go there to “get something done”. But in the midst of accomplishing my task and seemingly without my knowing it, I am led to all sorts of places I never knew I wanted to go. When I get there I often feel frazzled, and the task I set out to do is left undone. The rectangles fill the time, but they rarely fill me.

But why do I feel the need to do so much anyway? Why not be content to let the day remain empty? An empty day need not mean an unfulfilling day. To have an empty day allows the space to be filled with whatever comes my way. The urge to follow that birdsong. Time to just sit and watch the play of light across the landscape. Naps. Naps are good.

The best kind of empty days are the ones when I leave the screens tucked away out of sight, allowing my mind to wander free of their influences. It is not easy to intentionally set out to have an empty day. It is not easy to let go of the urge to be “productive”. But often it is what is needed to recharge, to become full again.

Are you feeling depleted? See if you can fill yourself up by emptying your day. You can start by turning off that screen you’re looking at right now.

Filed Under: Lifestyle Tagged With: creativity, mindfulness, technology, Work

Too Many Inputs

05/18/2018 by John Leave a Comment

Front Page of the New York Times

How often do I cede what to think about to others? The ubiquity of advertisements takes away much of my choice when it comes to where my attention goes. But often, I do have the choice. Every time I open up social media or subscribe to an email list, I am letting someone else decide what will occupy my mind for a period of time. It feels innocuous at the moment it is occurring but is it healthy when 12 or 24 hours later, I am still thinking about some random bit of information I let in?

The thing is, thoughts are little pebbles that roll downhill dislodging larger stones as they go until there is an avalanche. I often find myself buried in thoughts and unable to find the way out. An innocent glance at a Facebook post can lead to hours of researching a topic I never knew I had any interest in. Before I know it, the day is full of pursuing the thoughts and interests of someone else instead of my own.

I should be more mindful of how many times I open the door for new inputs to come in. I should be careful about the sources and ask myself if I am really getting any benefit from them. I want quality over quantity but I keep choosing quantity. I keep swimming in the shallow end of the pool of information when what I long for is to go deep.

Filed Under: Mindfulness Tagged With: focus, mindfulness, minimalism, technology

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