Resolutions

Two years ago I made a resolution to become more "gadget-ized" and over the past two years my beloved betrothed bestowed tech-y birthday gifts galore. I now am the proud owner of a five day forecaster that links into accu-weather, 4gen ipod, pda, smart-ish cell phone, digital SLR and probably other things I don't even recall. I signed up for a MySpace page, joined LinkedIn and "got connected" in a variety of other tech-y ways. Then, IT happened. Last year I lost my pda, and about a month ago I lost my cell phone, I sometimes forget my login and passwords, I go months without checking my email accounts, then we had to use the triple A batteries from my forecaster in order to operate Annie's new remote controlled "My Little Pony" scooter (for her ponies). The list goes on. Did my technological devises fail me, or did I fail them? And what have I learned from all of this? Not that I need a GPS tracking system for all of my junk, but rather that I don't need all the junk. I think in the depths of my subconscious I wanted to lose all of those things. I wanted to be disconnected.

Since July of last year my cell phone was permanently affixed to my hip and that meant one thing; no matter where I was or what I was doing everyone could be connected to me. That's a connection I am not willing to commit to at this time. I am not ready for the commitment to the tech-y world and truth be told I may never be ready for that responsibility. And what I think it says about me is that I don't want to be predictable, that I want to be spontaneous and that for certain moments of my life I want to be free. Free from people. Free from tracking and free from the indiscriminate knowledge of just about everything that society had forced upon us. Where's the fun in knowing everything? What would my role in life be if there was nothing to gain from actual real life people with whom I interact daily? What's wrong with not knowing the answer? My answer to that and my 2009 resolution is: nothing. My resolution this year: to be less "connected" and more alive.

And here's a little secret: I don't check my cell phone voice mail. I probably have messages from weeks ago that I never listened to. And I am horrible about checking the answering machine at home. I sometimes wait a week or more to listen! :)