Living in a Virtual World

I see it everywhere. People are watching television in the doctor's office on their cell phone. They are driving down the road texting on their PDAs or Blackberries.

I watched as two people who were close enough to talk to each other are texting each other instead. What is it that makes us pour all of our attention into a device that strips the communications of all but the sense of sight and perhaps hearing? Is it the pretty colors? There is no sense of warmth. There is no hot or cold, only words that are UPPER or lower case. Emotions are communicated by emoticons. Words are recorded by clicks or taps coded into a bit stream and sent at the speed of light to a cell tower, satellite, or through a DSL cable. The other end displays the communication with beams of photons emitted by the excitations of the electrons on an liquid crystal display.

Perhaps people have been hurt by living in the real world. They are overly sensitive to the harshness of experiencing sound, touch, smell, taste and sight. People would rather buffer themselves behind digitally pixelated plasma screens. The experience of eye to eye contact has been replaced with an invitation to join someone in chat or be added to their friends list on face book or instant messenger.

Even so, it is a sign of the times. Humans adapt and adopt. Even now my son is enrolled in a "virtual academy." The classroom is in front of a computer and participation is in a chat room. Every once in a while he will meet face to face with other students. They will travel great distances for a single event to gather and introduce themselves to each other.

All the while a smattering of super computers collect and log every data bit traveling the virtual world. Who knows who is watching, reading, listening to our cybersation?

Teaching...

Today is day TWO of adventures in homeschooling. We have made some progress and today will offer a full agenda of school work for my 10th grader. My challenge is to be relevant and help my son keep his attention centered on the work at hand.

If there would be anything I would like my son to achieve it would be... to take charge of his destiny. Everything else would be icing on the cake.

December Travels...

I never know where the road may lead in a week's time. Last week is different from this week. Last week I merely repaired machines and this week not only do I repair machines but I've become a teacher.

Circumstances often necessitate change. Change often creates circumstances. It's a chicken and egg kind of relationship. This can often leave me wondering, How on earth did I get here? It's like this photo. How did they ever get those crosses on that little island? I know they used a boat end of story. Those crosses mean something. Some one started the practice of putting three crosses in deserted fields and hill sides and thought to include this little island. I have a fondness for the significance. I know these are representative of the three crosses on Golgotha. It's a reminder to all that something extremely significant happened and we should reflect on our eternal place beyond this universe. I think about how my reflection would look from the vantage point of the crosses. I worked hard to capture the right light and compose the shot. I know the creator composed all of it, I merely record it with my crude instruments. Even so, I know I'm observed even if I'm some small imperceptible dot in the forgotten regions of my galaxy. How did I get here? I drove my car here. But even that act was predicated on other events. I just need to understand that, I'm always... here. Here ... constantly changes and so do I. Therefore I will reflect the ever changing scenery of my surroundings and of my heart.

Where will I end up next week? Here, but it will be different than this week.

The Anchor

There are plenty of distractions in life that could cut me loose from my moorings and set me adrift in the sea of a stormy life. There is a wonderful relationship between that which is fluid and that which is static and solid. I've come to learn that even the foundations of the earth can be shaken and if viewed in time lapse photography can be seen to move quite easily. The static can impede the fluid and the fluid can erode the static.

I have to ask that question in my heart. What moorings are gradually moving? Are the underpinnings of what brings meaning to life still there or have they become unhinged? What does it mean to all that I have known when a new discovery results in negating the truth of an unquestionable past experience?

It's similar to "knowing" that the earth is flat and then discovering that it isn't. In order to understand the far reaching ramifications of the new understanding one must accept the idea that understanding grows over time. The problem is that we humans tend to cling or desire to cling to things that don't change. We long to live in a world that has order and when that order is disrupted we find ourselves falling down the psychological hierarchy of met needs.

Finding Focus

I find it more difficult to do one thing as I age. That is to focus. I'm wearing trifocals. You may be familiar with the kind that have no lines and provide a gradual shifting of focus. I keep my neck busy as I am constantly adjusting my gaze up and down. Huh, now that I think about it, that could be the reason for my headaches!

The marvelous moment occurs when I can establish the focus. It's like everything else fades away and I can allow the focus to draw me in. There are certain tricks to find focus. Everybody has their own method. For the visual, I usually allow a camera to remain on auto focus. That is until I find I can't get the camera to focus on my subject. Then I use manual focus and wait till I see the funny little red flashy thing telling me it's in focus.

If the focus I'm attempting to achieve is about writing, I often find myself pacing throughout the house. I gaze out windows and then I return to my seat. Strangely enough things come into focus in my mind and words begin to flow. Some days the amount of writing focus is proportional to the amount coffee in the pot.

Emptiness...

There is emptiness in space. The volume inside this glass is filled with the atmosphere. Travel a few hundred miles up and nothingness would fill the glass.

What happens when this condition exists in the human heart? Has the person died in such a condition?

It is a metaphorical question. It concerns the seat of emotion when the universe implodes and reality is shattered into a million unrecognizable bits never to be reassembled.

I always say, "Live and let live." Not all would agree. Apparently they believe death is necessary in order for life to proceed. So be it. Before a glass can be filled it must be emptied.

Allowing Peace to Prevail

The chatter and clatter of the world can be overwhelming to a tired mind. At least that is how I feel now and then. So I seek moments of retreat to allow my soul to draw energy from simple things like a sunrise. The natural pounding of the surf beats the tension of my heart into submissive bliss. The yin and yang nature of course and soft sand beneath my bare feet helps to melt the coldness of an artificial world.

Just watching the unbroken surface of the ocean is a calming experience. Then to see a dolphin break into the air and others to follow stirs my imagination of other worlds. We are all part of the same world, yet we live in totally different environments.

Often times I'll venture out into the salt water and float for hours allowing the ebb and flow to move me. It reminds me of the relationship between large bodies of the earth, the moon and the sun. Wave after wave oscillate as the most natural metronome I know. There is no synchronization here. Rather, it is a simple transfer of energy. I release tension and my body heat in exchange for peace. The ocean gives if freely and generously. It is vast and infinitesimal all at the same time.

It is here that I remember just how small I really am in comparison to the scheme of the entire universe. I'm merely the speck of a sand upon the thousands of coastlines of the earth. Even so I have a voice, am sentient, and connected in so many ways to all of it.

Currently there are 6.94 billion of us on the planet and a few in space. How marvelous to know that I am not alone. As the population continues to increase it may be more difficult to find these moments of quiet.

We share the same air, same planet and have a need for this quiet. We need peace to prevail. Can you hear the ocean? Can you see the dolphins? Can you hear the seagulls? Can you feel the sand? Can you feel and smell the breeze? I can. I have peace.

...I draw energy from that.