I had a dream recently where I kissed you on the forehead, and touched my hand to the side of your face.
I imparted advice as well, but it was pretty general stuff — basically, you have the capacity to invest more deeply in the lives of the people you love. Don’t be afraid, go on.
Truly, if you’ve ever commented here you were in it — or some version of you. Well — my SUBCONSCIOUS’ version of you, really. Which is my subconscious version of me, ergo advice to myself, which I would do well to heed, etc.
But I’m still going to make it about you. This internet web-thing — anyone who still has enough self-possession to take a half-step back can see it is thoroughly torqued to make every one of its users crazy angry.
Shut it off. Hang with a friend. Commit to your Quiet Time.
OR:
- If you’re still keen to stay on-line, check this out: Phil reviews The FREAKIN' B-I-B-L-E! a piece that received well-earned notice from Arts & Letters Daily. You should read it, too.
- Still here? Pop in on Nick Cave.
- Need more? Watch the rest of the embedded doc — it is one of four films that define me (no, really).
Yeah, funny you should mention this. I had been thinking exactly the same thing recently--that I was spending way too much time online and needed to drastically cut back. (Of course, I'm perpetually thinking that I'm spending way too much time online and drastically need to cut back, so maybe it's not really that much of a coincidence.)
ReplyDeleteBut I admit to being caught up in the addiction of constantly checking facebook/twitter/youtube and emails. It's difficult to cut back because of that feeling of missing out. But I'm going to make a real effort.
Oh, and Phil's review was really great, wasn't it? I agree with about half of it, and disagree with about half of it, but it's always a pleasure reading Phil's thoughts. I love the way he writes.
ReplyDeleteThe interwebz is a great thing -- without it I'd only be an occasionally published writer who was read by even fewer. And I'm also a fan of Amazon! These two developments made my transition back to small-town Canada a breeze. Plus, how else would I have been introduced to the likes of you, and Mr. Christman?
ReplyDeleteThe shadow side of it though ... yikes. Consensus reality is becoming increasingly challenging.
Apologies for the late response on this. The past couple weeks I've been feeling a bit scattered and haven't been keeping up on the blogging or commenting.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, cheers, and a tip of the hat back to you. I've also enjoyed this correspondence over the years. (which has been well over a decade at this point, hasn't it? Where does time go!)
I've also used my blog to channel literary energies that probably would have had no other outlet if I had lived before the Internet. Every now and then I wonder if the whole thing has been a lot of wasted energy. (It does make me wonder sometimes where all this time and energy would have gone had I not taken up blogging. Maybe I'd be a more developed professional in my field.)
Blogging aside, however, there is just a lot of time that is objectively wasted. The endless checking of facebook or twitter feed. The hours spent watching youtube. I shudder to think how much of my 30s I wasted on the Internet just wasting time. My goal will be to get offline a lot more during my 40s.
Your family will probably help you with those goals, I should think. :)
ReplyDelete