To just be

Years ago I remember saying to my husband, I cannot wait until we get off the grid. To me it was an obvious luxurious destination to get to someday. What I meant by that was no social media, no smartphones, no digital tech. It was clear to me then that I needed to engage in digital technology to survive and thrive but I longed to disengage from it.

His response was bewilderment. He asked why in the world I would want that. He is incredibly curious and has expressed many times how wonderful it is to be able to get answers to so many of our emerging questions through the computer in his pocket. No trips to the library, no searching through books and articles. We both enjoy questions and exploring answers so that immediate knowledge access is a joy for us. I understood his response.

Based on his response, however, I wondered if I wasn’t embracing technology enough as a gift and its potential to make all of our lives significantly better. Even so, I had this nagging thought that it was unnecessary and really just more noise we’re forced to pay attention to. I had learned at an early age the value, power and serenity of silence.

I was fortunate to spend a good portion of my career working for a technologically progressive company. Easily adopting tech became part of who I was. Starting a company of my own and then the pandemic meant that I became even more adept at trying out a variety of technical solutions for inventing, connecting and adapting.

Now after diving in fully for many years I’m back to my original thought. I’m now convinced that our species is not yet equipped to handle this volume of digital technology. Certainly good things have come of it but the bad is outweighing it for now.

Looking back on human history, you can see the invention and introduction of a significant technology often results in a temporary setback for humanity and then we rise back up as new generations help the species constructively integrate it to become a thriving society once again.

If I had my wish, I really just want to be present in my own space with the people I love around me. I would love to not feel the need to be pulled into digital technology and that’s mostly not because of some fear or rebellion. Instead, it feels like it would be a privilege to be present as a way of being. It seems that the ultimate self-care and currency today is to be able to just be.