Actually, I know exactly where my computer is....unfortunately it is not on my desk :-( I should get it back today, but it's been a hard haul to just live with my laptop. Now, if I had never gotten into the information age in the 80's and 90's, would I be a happier person? I'm not sure about happier - there are many friends that I may never have met. But I think I would be healthier because I doubt that I would be waking between 3:30am and 4:00am to catch up with my computer work before I leave for work in the morning if I didn't have the work waiting on my electronic buddy.
The computer and our age of instant communications is a two-edge sword and there are many times that I think the wrong edge is facing out. Do we control the electronics.....or do they control us? Think about leaving your home without your cell phone. Do you have an infrared/RFD device that locks and unlocks your car? Do you even bother locking/unlocking it with a key any more? Is the TV on all the time in your home? How about your radio or Ipod/MP3 player? Do you even bother with film in your camera anymore? We can't walk backwards in time, but what have we lost for this "progress"?
We have lost time together instead of eating in front of the television. We have lost time playing outdoors with other kids or adults instead of sitting in front of a screen playing video or on-line games. We have developed a society of "wanna" people whose needs and wants are dictated by popular marketing, and that has led to a throw-away economy where we get rid of clothing because it is out of style rather than mending the tear, sewing on the button, or remaking the gown into a newer style if the fabric is still good. I'm not saying "don't be stylish", but I am saying to think about your conspicuous consumption. I'm as guilty as any of you who may be reading this. But I think about how my ancestors were able to pack most of their household belongings into a waggon bed and go to a different town to set up shop again. How many of us would be able to do that now? Instead we hire or rent large trucks to move us to a new place. And then we complain about how it is so hard to get all of the boxes unpacked.
Well, I've come a way from the original premise of looking for my computer, but there are some thoughts for the day. So think about it. What could you trim in your life and still have a good one? I'm working on minimizing some items from my overcrowded life because I know I'm over the top, and I suspect I'm far from alone :-)
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