thoughts – Page 23 – trippingdifferently

January 18, 2012January 18, 2012

Kempt – The Phone Stack

Oooh… this is an excellent idea! i really wish i could implement this at home too… for hubby who is constantly connected or should i say 24/7 available to customers… sigh! Actually, i would like to create a stack for all electronic devices, put a ban on connectivity, just for that hour, so we can savour The Joy Of Quiet…

Kempt – The Phone Stack.

While i agree that technology & all these wonderful little devices have made keeping in touch so much easier (something i am most grateful for since we are far from family & close friends). It has also made leaving work harder. It has reduce the significance of face to face communication for some people. We are losing skills here – skills like making small talk, looking people in the eye when speaking with them. Fewer persons can engage in meaningful conversations without a GUI (Graphic User Interface).

i am guilty of too much screen-time as much as the next person. Which is why i think to disconnect once in a while is a fantastic thing & i believe that dinner time is the excellent time to disconnect. EAT in my dictionary stands for Eat And Talk. So we should do that & no more Eat And Text 😉

Wishing you a peaceful time of disconnect.

syc

January 11, 2012January 15, 2012

The Sparkling Stars Are Gone…

Today i took down the Christmas Tree & all its decorations, took down the window decorations & balcony lights, took down the wreath on the front door & the little bells on the bedroom doors. They are all packed into their boxes, waiting for 365 days to pass before making their appearance again.

Now i look at my windows, at my walls, at the doors & they all look so empty, too white, too plain. It made me think about all that craziness that happens just for the sake of making Christmas special – the buying, the rush, the presents, the cards, the decorations, the lights, the food, the parties & so much more…

What is the real reason for doing all these? For us, the reason for the season is Jesus Christ & He is what makes Christmas special, not all the frills.

This led me to thoughts about how we sometimes fill our lives with “decorations” & how it blocks the view out of the window. How we sometimes only see the display of sparkling stars on the window & we miss the beautiful real stars out there in the velvet night sky. Are we sometimes lost in the shimmering lights & the true light in our lives is lost?

i know i am, very many times, caught in the doing & i lost out on the being. Like being a parent; i’m so into doing it right, making sure he has everything, getting him to accomplish that i forget about being a mummy; simply being there for my little guy, just enjoy being his mother, just enjoy him.

What are the true and valuable things in your life? Maybe it is time to take down the decorations & truly look & step into the real world. Sometimes when things are white & plain are when they are clear and sure.

syc

January 4, 2012January 4, 2012

The Joy of Quiet – article from NYTimes.com

i came across this article on my Facebook – a friend shared it. i so completely agree with it.

Information overload has been a much talked about topic, now more so than ever – or at least i seem to read & hear about it more now. i feel very much the overload – all this information out there to be read, absorbed, analysed, criticised, discussed etc… Don’t get me wrong – i’m not a person who dislikes this information age; in fact, i like it very much – i grew up reading tons & loved & still do, the Reader’s Digest, especially the medical articles (why? well, that’s another post); with the internet i get to read even more stuff 🙂

But there are days when i just wanna stay away from the screen; days when i say, “Enough!” & so i do – there will be stretches of a few days or more where i will not read my Facebook & only read absolutely urgent or important emails.

i recently had a friend ask me on Facebook :”madam!!! you on facebook once in 4-5 days ah?? :)”
i remember my early days on Facebook, i was on it 3 or 4 times a day, constantly checking people’s comments, statuses & playing lots of games. It took a while for me to realise how much time i spent doing that; & that i could be doing something i should be doing or have been wanting to do… such as finish that novel which i said i would 😉

i’m not saying Facebook is bad or internet is no good – it is great! It keeps me in touch with family & friends all over the world & it keeps me updated on world happenings, since i gave up reading the papers in a foreign language 9 years ago. So it is a good thing but as with most things, it needs to be done in moderation.

My favourite paragraph from this article:

The central paradox of the machines that have made our lives so much brighter, quicker, longer and healthier is that they cannot teach us how to make the best use of them; the information revolution came without an instruction manual. All the data in the world cannot teach us how to sift through data; images don’t show us how to process images. The only way to do justice to our onscreen lives is by summoning exactly the emotional and moral clarity that can’t be found on any screen.

The Joy of Quiet – NYTimes.com.

So have a read & let me know what you think.

syc