Out of Focus

I find it is really easy these days to get off course. In this so called information age, we have so much information that it clouds us from getting to the true knowledge I think we all seek. It takes a lot of energy for me to sort my many priorities and figure out what is really important and meaningful.

There are two things that I unconsciously do that I have recently become aware that are true measures of my focus. The first is if I don’t have my cell phone, I generally keep it close by in case of emergencies and if I’m not alone I will most likely not answer. Unless you happen to be my mother, she gets to interrupt me. I find it childish and rude those that seem to be somewhere else and constantly messaging or taking calls. The second is a rare luxury and that is when I don’t have my watch on and do not need to worry about what time it is. I think it’s important for all of us to figure out what it is we truly value and spend some quality time enjoying it.

For me this week it was a good friend getting married. It was an amazing day, filled with old friends, some new ones, coming together and celebrating one of the greaest joys in life. It was the kind of day that made me realize how out of focus some of my priorities are. The bride and groom have the kind of relationship that just doesn't exist anymore, the kind that this world needs more of. The greatest part was realizing that there are some things worth waiting for, and amongst this crazy string of seemingly unrelated insignificant events we call life - we can have things come into focus and there is a happily ever after, for all of us, even for me.

Two Questions

What would you do if you knew you could not fail?

If we don't yet know about life, how can we be expected to deal with death?

Lost in Translation

I can’t help but feel we are wasting our greatest resource and getting further off the path by giving into technology. Instead of spending quality time with people and interacting with them live and in person; we call, email, instant message, text and blog. They are all poor substitutes and distract us from what’s really important.

Human communication is made up of everything from physiological changes, body language, voice inflections, speech, and much more that gets lost in the technology translation. So much of our communication is non-verbal, and text on a screen isn’t what I’m talking about. How many times have you known a good friend is having a bad day by their facial expressions, verse a text message they sent you?

I get about ten visitors to my blog a day. I have no idea by whom and they rarely leave comments. I get about five text messages a day, sadly I have started to reply to most of them. I have some friends that I email more than I see or even talk to, regretfully I can’t seem to hang on to them.

Sure with technology we can do more, but really what are we doing more of and at what cost? I find I spent far too little time face to face with the people I care about most and these substitute forms of communication are only distracting me from the quality interaction we all need - when it comes to communication, I‘m taking quality over quantity.

“The greatest danger isn’t that machines will begin to think like people, but that people will begin to think like machines”
“It is appallingly obvious our technology has exceeded our humanity.”

- Albert Einstein

Time did an article on this last month, I read it at the doc's office this afternoon.

Moments of Clarity

I recently read my journal from when I was an intern in DC. It's hard to imagine that this was nearly five years ago. This entry made me think about a talk I heard this weekend on seeing the end from the beginning. I think there have been a few times in my life where this has happened.

May 26, 2001

I'm in New York City, its 9:00 PM and I'm sitting alone in our hotel room watching commencement speeches. I can’t believe the time I’m having. Everyone is at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, but I was extremely tired and wanted some time alone (very rare). It has been good, I figured out a lot today. I have a feeling of peacefulness and happiness right now. I think about my future and wonder about the things, places, and people that I’ll be with. I realized my faith today, the faith I have within myself. I will succeed; I will get what I want. I just have to figure out what that is.

This city gives me the chills. I love and hate it all at the same time. New York City is life, it is in your face. It’s Broadway, big business, capitalism, crime, violence, compassion, and vision. I need to get dressed and go out, I’m in NYC and it’s time to stop being introspective.