This week’s
blog is brought to you courtesy of a massive ice storm, although it may be
coming late for the same reason. It’s really quite remarkable how, when the
power goes out, everything in life just seems to... stop. There’re no lights,
no heat, only battery-powered electronics which must be conserved, and no
internet (unless there’s data around). However, there’s something else that
vanishes, too: pressure.
Our lives
have become so reliant on technology that as soon as it’s no longer there, all
those important things we have to constantly be doing no longer matter. Yes,
there’s an element of anxiety about not being able to complete required tasks,
but the power is gone – it’s out our hands; there’s nothing we can do about it,
so it’s easy to push aside.
We’re then
left with our biggest problem: what do we do with ourselves? To me, it’s
astonishing that it’s so hard to figure out what to do with myself when the
power is gone, because I’m right in that age group that transitioned from very
limited technology use to constantly being plugged in. I remember a time when I
had far more free time, and yet I still managed to keep myself occupied, but
somehow I now have no idea what to do when technology ceases to function.
I think a
big part of it is shock, because looking around I can find things I do fairly
regularly that don’t require technology. Reading. Conversing. Board games.
Drawing. The activities exist, but it’s a so much smaller pool of tasks that
the brain is easily tricked into thinking there’s nothing to do.
Yet, at the
same time, there’s that element of reaction. Not only is there less we what to
do, there’s less we’re able to do. Our technology has given us the ability to
do lots of things very fast, sometimes many things at once. As we became used
to this, it became an expectation not only that we could accomplish so much, but that we should.
Then the
power goes out, and everything slows down. Our attention is drawn to all the
things in life that we take for granted. We have to remind ourselves of other
ways of getting things done, and of other things we have to do.
I’d be the
last person to claim we need less technology in our lives, but at the same time
I think it’s important to pause and remember that we don’t have to constantly
be going so fast; that, in fact, without all our technology we wouldn’t be able
to. What better time to reflect upon this than when the power vanishes and all
the lights go out.
Check out my YouTube channel where I tell the stories of my D&D campaigns.
Also, make sure you check out my wife's blog and her website.
If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.
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