I can say unequivocally that I have defined myself in my career and in my life as an early adopter. I was early to the internet, early to mobile, early to social networking.. the list goes on. I was truly there in the very earliest days of the internet, working for AltaVista, the world's first and greatest search engine. I worked for a company called Bolt that created one of the first online communities for teens and young adults. I was at the very first meeting of the Mobile Marketing Association. You get the picture.
I share this to say that I do not shy from technology or gadgets. I jump right in early and get the latest, greatest iPhone, iPad, whatever gadget is au courant. Some will think me traitorous when I confess that I was so adventuresome recently that I actually crossed over to the Samsung Galaxy 4. All it took was seeing how sexy the big screen looked and the features that were available. Sign me up.
I have an iMac, an iPhone (which I use as an iTouch), an iPad and a Samsung Galaxy 4. I'm on Facebook and Twitter and Pinterest. Believe me folks, I'm into it. I embrace technology and I embrace the connected world that we live in.
So now let's take this story to the beach in Mexico. I recently was lucky enough to take a much-needed break and spend 6 days in Playa Del Carmen with my husband. We justified this lavish excursion by pointing to a recent big birthday for me and to our 30th wedding anniversary. Are you impressed? I hope so. 30 years together certainly deserves a celebration.
But when I am not lucky enough to be on vacation, I toil each and every day at a very busy job. Like many of us, I work long hours, slog through endless emails every day and am on high alert most of the time.. looking for the next opening, the next opportunity, the next place to break through.
Because of all that, when I actually do take a break and carve out a vacation, I choose to unplug. I need it. I want it. And I am committed to it. I announced to my team that I was unplugging. Happily I got support from my CEO to do just that. Whatever was going to happen during the 4 days that I was out of the office would be there when I returned and/or could be handled by someone else.
So we arrive at a lovely resort, with great anticipation and expectations. My expectations? Sun, water, exercise, books to read, time to dream, bellying up to the swim-up bar.. oh yes. That is what I yearn for. And I dearly yearn to be unplugged and to slow down.
So imagine my surprise when I surveyed my fellow travelers and vacationers as they lolled in their beach chairs or by the pool or better yet, in their Bali beds. (These Bali beds, by the way, could be the greatest invention in napping ever! ) But back to my surprise. As I observe the crowd, I notice that almost nobody is unplugged. There are Smartphones on almost every chair, there are iPads. There was even a woman in the pool holding her phone out of the water while she scrolled through her Facebook feed or her Pinterest page or God knows what else.. Seriously? What is this? Why doesn't anyone else want to unplug? Am I such an outlier? I get it when you are traveling on business and need to stay connected to the office or to your email. I get it if you want to keep your phone nearby in the event there is an emergency at home. But do we really need to keep these devices attached to our person every second of every minute, no matter where we are?
It is not just the beach where this phenomenon is so obvious. I was in a production of an A cappella opera version of Midsummer Nights Dream a couple of years ago. There was a small but mighty group of singers who accompanied the actors on stage with 700 pages of A cappella music. You can imagine that this was no small feat. One of my fellow altos was a young woman who had not one, but two phones on her music stand at all times. I really have no clue what she did with each one but I do know that every time the conductor laid down his baton, she would pick up her phone and check her texts, her Facebook page, her who-knows-what. Needless to say, I did not have high confidence that she was going to be there on the alto line when I faltered.
This worries me. This is where I really begin to sound old school. But is there a risk that we are so caught up in the digital devices in our lives that we are truly missing out on the people in our lives or the beauty in the world? What is the cost of this attachment? How can we treat what is surely an addiction. I believe there will be a swing back the other way for some of us. There are those who will never unplug. I do not judge but I do worry that they will be missing something essential and important in our time on the planet. I applaud the people and places that encourage unplugging. The summer camp when I worked for years and where my children still work believes in unplugging. This is a gift to the children who are lucky enough to spend time in Vermont in the summer.
I wish more people in high places would insist on shedding our devices some of the time. Let's give everyone a day a week to truly unplug. There is nothing to lose and much to gain.
If you disagree or have something to add, just text me.
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