... from the usual post for a quick thought. I read a quote today that will be a favorite: "Life gives to all the choice. You can satisfy yourself with mediocrity if you wish. You can be common, ordinary, dull, colorless; or you can channel your life so that it will be clean, vibrant, progressive, useful, colorful, rich"--President Spencer W. Kimball, 12th president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The quote reminds me of why I started this blog: I love the Internet. I love its information-on-demand--whether it's what time the local zoo opens or a summary of the War of 1812. I love its power for connecting people, especially when the kids and I Skype my hubby when he's away on military assignments. I don't love the Internet's information overload with meaningless dribble--I've gotten sucked in to reading celebrity gossip news--or its quasi-conversations that too often replace a hand-written note, a well-timed call, or a hug to someone who needs it. Even with all the newest connectivity technoloiges, the Internet is largely a passive medium. You can spend hours reading emails, posting on dozens of social-networking sites, but in the end, your eyes feel buggy from staring at a screen and you feel sluggy and disconnected.
The Internet has the power to be more; it can be "clean, vibrant, progressive, useful, colorful, rich." But, it will depend on how we use it. I'm not saying a good vapid but viral YouTube video now and then is a bad thing. I'm just hoping for a little more doing in our real lives from what we experience online. A little bit of verb living.
Do something this week offline that you might have otherwise done online--call that old high school friend or print that photo of your family, make it into a card and mail it to grandma with her favorite treat. Let us know how it goes.
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Love this!!!!!! I too love the internet. I love my blog because it is a history of our family. I love to share what is new and memorable and hope for a comment of interest in our lives. I also have facebook which I am finding to be an overload of nothing. I am not interested in what people have for lunch and/or the celebrity they look the most like. I have decided that Facebook is way too much. Therefore, I am taking a "break". Less internet!!!!!I have often felt that the phone call and visits have been replaced by the internet. It is so impersonal.
ReplyDeleteI would love to copy your post if I may. It puts into words the way I have felt for so long now. You are so great with your words and make it sound non-judgmental.
Love you Jenn,
Alison
You are so good. This is so true. Well said.
ReplyDeleteGreat post Jenn. 100% on the mark.
ReplyDeleteA friend of mine helped me try out this verb. She asked me to come speak to their home school group about careers in journalism. (I have degrees in journalism and public relations.) I was impressed she took the time to ask me to come as a guest--it would have been just as easy for her to email me a couple questions or look up information online, but it was a cool sense of community for me to see how they are home-schooling and, I hope, for the kids to hear from someone who has a little behind-the-scenes info. It made me think of doing the same thing when my kids are teenagers and thinking of "what they want to be when they grow up." We have so many capable neighbors around us who could talk to our family about their profession for a family night.
ReplyDeleteLike I said, I love reading your blog but don't often take time to respond. But your writing talent is so impressive to me, Jenn. I can see a future for you that includes this god-given, father-inherited, working-very-hard-on-your-own talent. When you write, you have something to SAY... and I love that about you.
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