Last week's article entitled Unplugged From Mother Nature focused on the physical. Today I'd like to delve in a different direction and examine the psychological aspects.
plug away - work doggedly or persistently; "She keeps plugging away at her dissertation"
A common colloquial phrase we hear urging us to continue persevering towards our goal or objective is "Keep plugging away". This phrase extolls us to keep working and striving towards achieving what we want by chipping away at it a little each day. Plug away and keep taking those small steps and eventually you'll reach your objective. Very good advice to heed!
One of the things about language is that it is always changing. New words and phrases are constantly being created and defined and new meanings are being given to existing words and phrases. I would like to do this with the phrase "plugging away". I want to give it new meaning with regard to the use of electricity.
When was electricity invented?
In 600 B.C. Thales of Miletus writes about amber becoming charged by rubbing. He described what we now call static electricity. This was the discovery of electricity not the invention of it.
Electricity was not invented. It is a natural phenomenon just like water and fire.
Thomas Edison
Thomas Edison invented the lightbulb, making electricity accessible to the masses, in 1879.
So for our purposes let's go with the date of 1879 since our concern here is what's been happening since electricity has been made "accessible to the masses". Ponder this for just a moment. It is now 2013. We've been using electricity for only 134 years of our existence on this planet. All of its uses are impossible to mention but it is safe to say it permeates every aspect of our modern life.
We're inventing more things to plug in every day and willingly continuing to buy them and plug them in. We are plugging away with abandon.
Think of the myriad of things we use electricity for now that we didn't just a few years ago. Not that long ago we manually typed, sawed, drilled, clipped, shaved, cut, screwed and painted. Not any more. Now more often than not we plug in to do these tasks. This is the physical side of "plugging away".
But think of how we get our information in our "plug away" modern world. Not that long ago we didn't have telephones, televisions, radios, computers, smart phones, I-pads and e-readers. We talked to each other, read books and newspapers, wrote letters and sent postcards. Now we e-mail, text message, e-read, word process and video podcast. We communicate through the portholes of social media outlets like Facebook and Twitter. Face to face communication is becoming less frequent, strange and foreign to our youth. Do we lose psychological and emotional connection as a consequence of the constant arms length impersonal communication used in today's electronic world?
The negative effects of social networking are well documented.
From the Oprah website:
“It can be exhilarating, at least at first, to connect with long-lost friends,” says network science expert Steven Strogatz, PhD, a professor of applied mathematics at Cornell University. But the downside, he worries, is growing confusion between our weak ties (people who might be useful in referring us to a good dentist or helping us find a job) and our strong ties (those we’re very close to). “The distinction between genuine friends and acquaintances is becoming blurred. Users are spending time maintaining relationships with people they don’t really care about.” …
…”It takes a certain amount of time to fully experience complex social emotions,” says the lead author, cognitive neuroscientist Mary Helen Immordino-Yang. Heavy reliance on the rapid intake of certain information—especially in younger, developing minds—could have consequences on our morality. It could also be “a whole new source of unhappiness,” says Strogatz. “On Twitter the conversation never stops. You start to feel that if you’re not involved in it, you’re missing out.”
It’s enough to make you long for the good old days of connecting over a cup of coffee.
I contend that the more we keep plugging away with abandon the more removed and isolated we become from nature and each other This is not healthy for our emotional state. It is not healthy for solving some of the communal problems we face either.
I recall an incident in my own life that reminded me of all this. During the Christmas holidays in Seattle three years ago a major snowstorm hit the area. Power was lost in our neighborhood and people were unable to travel. For 2 days our modern lifestyle was put on hold. The city became quieter, the pace became slower and the human connections increased. Neighbors came out of their homes and asked each other if they were OK. We visited. I met many for the first time. Those without heat were invited into the homes of those that did. Our neighborhood streets became playgrounds and sleigh runs. People made snowmen together, had snowball fights with each other and just took the time to enjoy things in an old fashioned, up close and personal way with both each other and with nature. In those two days my sense of community increased significantly.
Others I talked to expressed the same sentiment. Even though we were inconvenienced in physical ways we felt enriched. We felt connected and it felt healthy and nurturing.
Don't get me wrong. Modern communication is great and I'm not one to advocate the elimination of its use. I am not proposing an Amish lifestyle be adopted. All I'm saying is we need to stop and think about how we are communicating before we decide to plug something in. Our modern lifestyle conspires to isolate us from our natural surroundings and from each other. We need to keep it all in perspective and balance.
As followers of the Church of the Holy Shitters we strive to remain as close to nature and as nurturing of nature as possible. Unplugging away as much as possible is a healthy thing to do for yourself and your environment. Enrich your life. Unplug. Take the time to enjoy the simple ways of communicating. Take the time to enjoy doing things the old fashioned way. It's good for the soul.
The Church of the Holy Shitters will post articles on our holy S.H.I.T. day ( So Happy It's Thursday)
Last week: Unplugged From Mother Nature
Next week: Thinking About Change and Progress
Hoping to add some humor, provoke thought, spark debate, deepen understanding, and shed some light on the fecal side.
Remember: "If we really want to straighten out all this crap we really need to think about shit." ( Shitbit by Poop John the First of the Church of the Holy Shitters)
Church of the Holy Shitters
Related articles:
'Plug In Better': A Manifesto
Digital detox: Can you unplug for 24 hours?
originally posted at http://holyshitters.com/