It's quite overwhelming to know that we are all hyper-connected; yet highly disconnected.
It's the virtual version of the old saying.."water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink..." I had a high school teacher tell me that this was about a Portugese explorer off the shore of Brazil (circa 1500) and the ship's crew was delirious and in need of water. The common thought was that because it was ocean, there was no freshwater. The teacher expounded that because of the velocity of the Amazon River, there was indeed freshwater many miles out into the ocean. He gave us the opportunity to express how this worked in our own lives. The class of 1970's teenagers offered no insight...duh...
But today-- it hit me...oh my, here we are with all the connectivity in the world, yet I am increasingly isolated. I work from home for a multi-national corporation. I start my day off speaking with the team in India and progress further west for the course of the day ultimately ending again in Asia at 9 p.m.-ish... I spend my time in conference calls aided with Instant Messanger, e-mail and an assortment of Internet communities and no face-2-face contact with anyone...and sometimes it's days that I don't even leave my house.
Yesterday I went to a special yoga event...called 'Charkras'...yes, there was a tad of the New Age crowd in attendance - but this was very much an individual pursuit. I found out that I have two areas that are all 'blocked'...the first is my throat...my voice...and the second is above my head, the 'white' -- Lotus of a thousand petals - or how I am connected to society...ouch - I have NO white, I'm not connected...
On my voice, it made me realize that I make my living with my voice. It's the corporate version of a 'radio talk' show. I have achieved my own personal celebrity without even knowing it. I host a damn cool conference call - but my own voice is blocked...hummm...appears that I may use it solely for commerce and that I have absolutely nothing left for anyone else....
The white space is the one that got my attention. It's supposed to be your contribution to society and how you relate. Other than my Saturday forays to the Farmer's Market; I have no connection to society. I have put all of my energy in the daily production of my version of the never-ending radio talk show and have nothing left to give...to anyone or anything.
I found this absolutely ridiculous...and truly disturbing. I'm thinking that technology has taken me over to the point that I'm completely socially autistic; metaphorically speaking.
I do not think that I am alone in this observation. I no longer view the telephone as a device of social interaction. It's a chore. When it rings- it's all business and it's never good. I prefer the buffer of the Internet - you can control your reaction in a very prescriptive fashion that I can never really wrangle verbally. I have an occassional stutter that is never evident in the written word, but always seems to manifest itself when I'm stressed or in a defensive posture. The written form is also ageless...you have no idea of how old I am - -you create your own image of me. Again - it's akin to radio...
When I was fresh out of college, I started my career in radio. I have a sultry voice that was further enhanced by cigarette smoking (which I haven't done for a very long time - so don't comment on how gross that is). I found that I had a hard time keeping the show light..reason: I got no feedback. There's an old communications theory that addresses feedback as key to human condition. I did this for about 6 months and ended up quitting... I could not stand being alone for hours on end, working by myself and getting no real feedback....Well - -here I am...the queen of drive-time, midday and afternoon drive time conference calls - there is no back up announcer...! It's all me, all day - -five days...and the topic is pretty consistent day after day. I believe I have ended-up right where I started...The technology sector does pay a lot better than radio.
Which does start at the beginning...I have elected to isolated myself. It's a self-inflicted sentence. I could do a lot to ameliorate my situation. I choose to do otherwise. I am surrounded by opportunity to give to the community, explore new business options, exercise myself and my creativity...yes, there is water everywhere. I think I'll just stop complaining, take some action and just drink the water.
It's the virtual version of the old saying.."water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink..." I had a high school teacher tell me that this was about a Portugese explorer off the shore of Brazil (circa 1500) and the ship's crew was delirious and in need of water. The common thought was that because it was ocean, there was no freshwater. The teacher expounded that because of the velocity of the Amazon River, there was indeed freshwater many miles out into the ocean. He gave us the opportunity to express how this worked in our own lives. The class of 1970's teenagers offered no insight...duh...
But today-- it hit me...oh my, here we are with all the connectivity in the world, yet I am increasingly isolated. I work from home for a multi-national corporation. I start my day off speaking with the team in India and progress further west for the course of the day ultimately ending again in Asia at 9 p.m.-ish... I spend my time in conference calls aided with Instant Messanger, e-mail and an assortment of Internet communities and no face-2-face contact with anyone...and sometimes it's days that I don't even leave my house.
Yesterday I went to a special yoga event...called 'Charkras'...yes, there was a tad of the New Age crowd in attendance - but this was very much an individual pursuit. I found out that I have two areas that are all 'blocked'...the first is my throat...my voice...and the second is above my head, the 'white' -- Lotus of a thousand petals - or how I am connected to society...ouch - I have NO white, I'm not connected...
On my voice, it made me realize that I make my living with my voice. It's the corporate version of a 'radio talk' show. I have achieved my own personal celebrity without even knowing it. I host a damn cool conference call - but my own voice is blocked...hummm...appears that I may use it solely for commerce and that I have absolutely nothing left for anyone else....
The white space is the one that got my attention. It's supposed to be your contribution to society and how you relate. Other than my Saturday forays to the Farmer's Market; I have no connection to society. I have put all of my energy in the daily production of my version of the never-ending radio talk show and have nothing left to give...to anyone or anything.
I found this absolutely ridiculous...and truly disturbing. I'm thinking that technology has taken me over to the point that I'm completely socially autistic; metaphorically speaking.
I do not think that I am alone in this observation. I no longer view the telephone as a device of social interaction. It's a chore. When it rings- it's all business and it's never good. I prefer the buffer of the Internet - you can control your reaction in a very prescriptive fashion that I can never really wrangle verbally. I have an occassional stutter that is never evident in the written word, but always seems to manifest itself when I'm stressed or in a defensive posture. The written form is also ageless...you have no idea of how old I am - -you create your own image of me. Again - it's akin to radio...
When I was fresh out of college, I started my career in radio. I have a sultry voice that was further enhanced by cigarette smoking (which I haven't done for a very long time - so don't comment on how gross that is). I found that I had a hard time keeping the show light..reason: I got no feedback. There's an old communications theory that addresses feedback as key to human condition. I did this for about 6 months and ended up quitting... I could not stand being alone for hours on end, working by myself and getting no real feedback....Well - -here I am...the queen of drive-time, midday and afternoon drive time conference calls - there is no back up announcer...! It's all me, all day - -five days...and the topic is pretty consistent day after day. I believe I have ended-up right where I started...The technology sector does pay a lot better than radio.
Which does start at the beginning...I have elected to isolated myself. It's a self-inflicted sentence. I could do a lot to ameliorate my situation. I choose to do otherwise. I am surrounded by opportunity to give to the community, explore new business options, exercise myself and my creativity...yes, there is water everywhere. I think I'll just stop complaining, take some action and just drink the water.
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