We are living in a society where we’re required to be tuned-in or turned-on. Whether it is to our televisions, PDAs, cell phones, video games, on line networks, or lap tops. Being plugged in has become a way of life for many of us. It’s the way we stay connected with our friends, establish friendships, network, do business, conduct research or engage in some kind of recreation. This hidden dis-ease has control how most of us interact with one another. For instance, instead of making a phone call, we send an email, instead of a face-to-face meetings–we do a teleconference, and the list goes on.
Being plugged in has become the new standard of living for most of us, especially if we live in the Western Hemisphere. We place a great value on the technologies that make our life less complicated and provide us with a more efficient way of doing “things”. These technologies have made our lives, to some extent, simplier, easier, and provide us with the means to do things more effectively. However, we have became so heavily dependent on these systems that when they no longer work the way they are suppose to, we stop functioning altogether. Some of us aren’t able to do our jobs the way we normally do, stay connected to one another, or do a simple chore.
Being constantly plugged in to our cell phones, emails, and other communication modes has in itself caused our lives to be busier and some times more stressful because we are expected to constantly respond and produce. So we get caught in the mode of doing with very little or no time to just be–be ourselves, be in the moment, be joyful, or be grateful. Our lives are constantly filled with tasks, we need to do that, do this, be here, be there, and we hardly ever get time to be nowhere, and do nothing. Our lives have become a BIG-To-Do-List and somehow we think that this is okay because someone convince us that the busier we are, the more succesfful we are. What a BIG Lie! Although the definition of success is contingent upon each individual, the common definition is a “favorable termination of a venture, outcome, a result.”
The industrial revolution gave way to some of our greatest invention of our day. Arguably so, the revolution provide a faster means of production and to some extent have simplified how we live our life. But within the last 20 years or so there have been a great shift in our society. The shift is towards a busier lifestyle, doing more with less time and less resources. Part of this shift came from our own insatiable appetites to consume more, so we needed to produce more; hence this cyclical process. As the world population expanded and our appetite grew, the machines needed to function 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to keep up with demand. And what happened when that demand was high? we needed to supply it. To fill our demand we developed more machines that were even more effecient, which produced higher units in less time. We created more advanced technological systems for better tracking and monitoring of demand and supply. But what happened was that we became so dependent on these systems that we couldn’t function without them. To lessen the likelihood of failing machines, we developed other technological systems to help us keep them malfunctioning. This began to drive the development of a “quick-fixed” society.
But it’s time to get unplugged. Unplugged from this interdependence of our cell phones, emails, PDAs, etc. Unplugged from this constant bombardment of information. Unplugged from the social disconnect of friendships, marriages, businesses, and ourselves. We need to move away from chatting with our friends with our cell phones or via a text message. Away from excessive use of emails and other things that keep us plugged into the system.
Getting uplugged means that you begin to detach yourself from the over dependency of electronic modes of gathering, disseminating, processing and organizing your life. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying to trash your cell phones, computers, PDAs or stop emailing altogether. But use them in moderation. If your job require constant contact and the use of such devices, then decrease the usage of these devices in your personal life.
It’s time to quiet your logical mind and open yourself up to hearing your inner wisdom. That wisdom that has been quieted by all the stuff that overshawdos its voice. All the things on the to-do list that keep you in the ”doing” mode and never in the “being” mode. Awake your soul by limiting the use of these things that fill your awaken state of consciouness. Streamline the information that comes to you and goes from you. Develop a practice that keeps you attuned to your spirit and that inner wisdom that needs to come forth so badly.
The time is now to get UNPLUGGED.
TIme to Get Unplugged is a workshop that is administered by Deborah. If you would like to offer this workshop to your group or organization, click here:
