Cindy on June 8th, 2009
Build a campfire, write your own song, dance your ass off, hike 10 miles — be something that’s not just part of a machine.” — Robert Downes
Visiting Traverse City, Mich., this spring, I picked up the April 20 issue of Northern Express Weekly. I always enjoy the “Random Thoughts” column, penned by Robert Downes, the paper’s publisher and managing editor. So I wasn’t surprised when Downes’ column, “Going Natural — Offline,” hit me where I live and prompted me to reach for the scissors. I clipped the piece and saved it.
In his column, Downes opened with an anecdote about Jack Hicks, a retired Chicago-area librarian who cancelled the Internet because he thought it was “a time-waster” and a mere “imitation of real life.” Downes went on to say that he understood where the librarian is coming from — and wondered if our lives are “being twittered away” when we spend so much time online.
“Those of us who were born long before the digitalization of childhood can recall a time when kids spent as little time as possible indoors. You ran around barefoot outdoors all summer and only came in when your parents yelled themselves hoarse, long after sunset,” Downes recalled. He also pointed out that we shouldn’t be surprised that we now battle the issue of obesity among four-year-olds.
But today’s kids aren’t the only ones losing touch with reality. Too many adults have taken up permanent residence in cyberspace, and I wonder if there’s a correlation between Internet use and the worrisome rise in adult ADD. Though I’ve not been diagnosed with it, I’ve noticed lately that I’m not as focused as I used to be. I jump from project to project — as if I’m merely Web surfing. A lot of my friends complain, too, about feeling vaguely distracted or hollow — and unable to read as many books as they used to.
Out of touch?
Summer is approaching and I’d rather be outdoors as much as possible — and not on my laptop or cell phone. Yet I know that veering off the information superhighway is akin to Thoreau dropping out of society for his Walden sabbatical. Regardless, it’s tempting.
Back in the day before e-mail, blogs, and Facebook, I spent A LOT more time moving around in the real world. (And kids, it really wasn’t that long ago.) I lunched with friends at the outdoor cafes downtown, interviewed people “in person,” finished the books I was reading, took my son to the park and played with him, met with editors at the newspaper office, took long walks with friends or my husband, worked in the garden until dusk. When I did work online, I focused on getting more assignments and polishing my own writing. I didn’t spend time commenting on other writers’ blogs, and didn’t check for new Facebook messages every 15 minutes.
Today I’m nearly compulsive about my time on the computer. I’ve barely poured my first cup of coffee before I’m in my office checking my e-mail. And I never travel without a laptop on vacation. Thanks to all the hours I spend online, I finish reading fewer books, newspapers, and magazines — and have let many of my subscriptions lapse. And whether I’m in town or out, it seems, my friends and I send e-mail or send Facebook messages more often than we chat on the phone or visit in person. This can’t be such a good thing.
Recently, a couple of my neighbors and I decided to establish a weekly dinner date at a local restaurant — within walking distance — for some real community contact. This is long overdue. While I’d never cancel the Internet or disconnect from the online friendships I value, I need to devote more attention offline to the people and things that mean the most to me.
As Downes suggests, “It might be good for the soul to take an annual vacation from your iPod, Internet, cell phone, Twitter, MySpace, and all the other electronic strings attached to your life for a week or so, if only to reboot your sense of humanity and become a ‘real person’ once a year.” My only question: Why just once a year? –CL
– Garden photo copyright by Cindy La Ferle –
Cindy on June 2nd, 2009
“A writer never has a vacation. For a writer, life consists of either writing or thinking about writing.” — Eugene Ionesco
Summer typically signals “time off” — or at least a few leisurely moments in a lawn chair — but most writers keep on writing.
With that in mind, I want to share an informative new web site for professional writers working in all genres. Writers in Business is the brainchild of Brigitte Thompson, an accountant, freelance writer, and author of several books on taxes and record keeping. Since writers tend to focus on the creative aspects of our work, we could use a little help and advice on business matters. Brigitte recently published Bookkeeping Basics for Freelance Writers – which you’ll want to read long before tax season rolls around. This week, Brigitte features an interview with yours truly, so I hope you’ll stop by for a visit.
And while we’re on the topic of writing, I want to share another all-time favorite blog of mine, At Home with the Farmer’s Wife. The writings and photography on this blog are always gorgeous and interesting. To sweeten the pie, this week the Farmer’s Wife is featuring my book, Writing Home, in a special giveaway. Not surprisingly, she’s written one of the nicest reviews of my book, ever. It’s such a gift when another writer “gets” what you’re doing! — CL
