Memory Lane

I hope my readers let me indulge in a jaunt down memory lane. Though I swear I had that hairstyle with my "banana seat" bicycle when I was in high school, I will only scroll back to the time I was in college...

It was the late 1980's. OK - while some of you weren't even sparks in your parents eyes, some of you probably just thought, "That isn't that far back!"

That was a time before CD's, when being able to play a cassette tape in the car was a cool thing. Though it was a bit better than the first cars of my parents' generation, where they only had AM radio.

It was a time before the public access of the world-wide web (a.k.a. the internet). Computers were no longer huge machines with punch-cards and spinning reel-to-reel machinery that took over a whole room. By then, there were humble desktop computers that ran on a new language called DOS.

This was a lot better than strings of ones and zeros. I remember typing in lines of DOS code in my computer class. But I had a hidden asset; my kid brother was a genius on using those blinking boxes since he was in the 8th grade. He taught the teachers how to use the school one.

The time when we would dial up over the phone lines to "post messages" on a virtual "bulletin board" didn't arrive until well after collage. So I declined to learn more than the basic requirements of this blinking box.

It couldn't even help me type up my school reports. There were better tools for that. I had transitioned from manual to electric typewriters in high school. For those younger readers, "manual" means one without ANY use of electricity. The electric ones had no screen, but replaced the keys that would jam together if you typed too fast, with a spinning ball that could fly out if you typed too fast. For those my age and older, remember typing a page and making a mistake, where you would have to retype the WHOLE page?

I had a "high-tech" typewriter as my graduation gift before college. This would let me scroll through one whole line of type and correct it before I hit the "Return" key, which acted like today's "Enter" key and typed out that line. (Before that, for you youngsters, the "Return" key was how you got to the next line on a page. What wordwrap?) This technology saved on correction tape. If I missed a typo on the screen, though, I still had to manually scroll up with the roller on the side (not the "scroll-bar"), space over to the spot, and use the typewriter's version of "white out" to cover and re-type the error. If it was more than a few words, I would just crumple up the page and begin again...

We were well before the age of the "spell-checker" too. One would hire an English major to proofread a school report before handing it in.

Phones were another thing that changed over the years. Hands up ~ who remembers what this is? This was still on the phones at my parents' home when I was in college. My grandparents had this on their sole house phone too. But their phone number dated to an even-older technology: IVANHOE-6-3015. While we no longer needed to have an operator connect us, we did have to use the rotary phone letters to dial "IV" and the numbers. (And I bet you youngsters thought letters on the keypad had to do with texting!)

My college roommate and I had the luxury of sharing a phone (and our first regular bill). But ours was a newer technology - the push button phone! (We paid extra for "touch tone" dialing.) It was still connected to the phone jack in the wall, and the hand-held receiver was connected to the base with a long spiral cord. If I wanted a private conversation, I either called when my roommate was in class, or I hid in the closet like I did at home... until someone tripped over the phone cord and yelled at me! :P

The phone bill was different too. I paid per minute on local calls and a small fortune for long distance. But for some reason, when there was someone we loved (as boyfriend or girlfriend), we wouldn't count those minutes. We would spend an hour or more in either conversation or just listening to each other breathe in the silence. Maybe that didn't mean much to the guys, but it did to the girls. I wasn't the only one who would curl up around the receiver and shut my eyes listening...

The world keeps changing. There are generations today that will only know of what I speak from old stories and history class. Now we connect over cordless phones that work anywhere (or at least where we get a signal). We touch our loved ones over the internet, even in a virtual "face-to-face" conversation.

Is it really the same? I remember the old AT&T commercials: "Have you ever tucked your kid in from 10,000 miles away? You will!" We never did get those video-phone booths we were promised though. In fact, finding a working phone booth in the US today is a rarity. My husband is screwed if he ever has to use one; we can't afford cell phones. Mine is a company phone.

There is something my husband mentioned about today's technology that makes me think: "When a person is chatting, texting, tweeting or whatever online or on the phones, they are NOT where they are physically. Their mind -- and maybe something else -- is elsewhere."

It's sad to see a family having dinner together in a restaurant, yet all of them are using either hand-held video games or their smart phones. They don't speak to each other; they  barely notice the food they are eating. The only thing they have in common at that moment is where their bodies are.

Will we actually go to the extent of sci-fi, where our bodies are connected to some machine to keep us fed and alive and our minds are ... out there?

As I grew up, there was growing interest that started in the 1970's (maybe earlier, but I wasn't around much before 1969...). In grade school, I was assigned a science fair project on Extra-Sensory Perception (ESP). Ever since then, my ears would catch conversations about those studies. In college, there were lectures on telepathy, empathic ability, telekinesis, etc. There was curiosity about the spirit and how we could reach out and connect beyond the copper phone lines that were strung overhead everywhere.

In college, we would hug the phone close to our ear just to listen to a distant loved one breathe. There was a connection, despite the miles between. Perhaps there is a connection through the electronic world today, as well. Could our spirits have adapted to some degree that we use the technology to reach out and touch another spirit, even when we can not physically touch that person?

I am not a techo-phobe, and would likely have an iPad and smart phone if it was in my fiscal ability. The laptop I use to type this is also a company tool (with permission). But I also consider how this technology changes us.

Can I be the only one that found addictions to Twitter, FaceBook (and countless other online stuff) eating up all the time I can spare, and even more late into the night? Am I the only one that has seen online activities killing time I should be spending with family or visiting a friend who's struggling with illness?

Am I the only one that needs to unplug?

I've even been diagnosed (temporarily) with Adult-ADHD. I never had it as a kid, nor did I show any signs of it as a child, in my 20's or even 30's. Why now? Technology overload? Is that what happens when I try to keep up with all the things online? Instead of letting the doctors put me on medications that screw with my head, I sought prayer and looked for the root cause.

Unplugging helped -- significantly. It also brought me closer to my family members again. I have more time to volunteer and talk face-to-face with my neighbors and co-workers. Though I wonder if they will become jealous of my time when I go back to Twitter again...

In my life, my goal here is to find balance. I do enjoy reaching out and connecting to people worldwide. Perhaps there is a spiritual element. I've found the same "connection" when I pray for someone at a distance, as well as when I tweet back to folks online in rhyme. Perhaps it was there when I hung onto the phone and listened to a loved one breathing... just sharing that moment in time.

But I also know, too, that face-to-face connections are required. We are not spirits with minds alone. We are also spirits with bodies. While some consider the body "evil temptation," there are benevolent uses for the body too. A touch, a handshake, a hug, a kiss, ... a look when eyes meet eyes.

What do you do with your time

When you are no longer online?

~ESA