
I am realizing lately that my "newish" life is far different than my "old" life.
I have 2 gorgeous step-children that live with me 50% of the time, an amazing fiancee', a cat that wakes me up at dumb hours of the morning, one full-time job that occasionally requires weekend work madness, and I teach 7 yoga classes a week.
In summary, I'm tired..... tired of all of the busy-ness.
I have never heard the word "business" broken down that way until I took my teacher training. But in fact, that is what the word means. Busy Ness.
Kind of like Loch Ness but it's proven to be real.
I'm not the only yoga instructor in the world, or the only parent, or person who works a crap-load of hours... but it is a vast difference between my life in Chicago where it was just me and a 12lb. dog that didn't require much more than a walk or two a day & some kibbles at the required time.
What has got me the most crazy is the residual garbage. I find that while technology is awesome and amazing, it is filling up my time with more than originally planned. The Internet is great but I'm a little sick of it. Facebook is great but I've never felt the need to fill a second of my time in Farmville....or "checking in" where I am so that all the world can find me at any given moment. Making videos & books online is great but my eyes can't take it anymore. ...and today I heard the best... beware of 'Toasted Skin Syndrome"... what the hell is that you ask? It is what happens to your legs/hips/lap from the heat of your laptop being there too damn long.
HOW DID WE GET THIS WAY!!!???
I woke up this morning & thought, what if someone called me like they did in 1975 and got (GASP) a busy signal? It would be a sign that I was BUSY!!!! They might be a little ticked if it was important, but they would hang-up, go on their merry way, and call back later. Today, all systems we have are GO, therefore it is almost impossible to ignore someone without our programmed minds thinking, "where are they? why aren't they answering? I lost my signal, do you call me or do I call you? oops, while I was calling you, you were texting me!!!"... AAUGHHHH!!!!
Sadly, I have been all of those people... but feel the need to change.
I've recently realized that while not having a land line is great & one less bill, it poses a problem for the kids. What if someone needs to dial 911??? Where is the phone? On the flip side of that, God forbid I leave my phone accidentally in my car or on vibrate, my family might freak if they call me 5 times and I don't answer the phone!!!
Phew... okay enough whining about the phone, but we've all been there, and the younger generation (I sound old now) is totally (and not in the totally-like-gag-me-with-a-spoon valley girl kind of way) used to this. It is normal. Forget manners; talk as loud as you want, wherever you want, and don't worry, I am truly happy to hear about your most intimate, personal escapades while trying to enjoy my dinner or shopping.... I'm just saying.
So today for the first time, I told someone on the phone, "I appreciate you sending me your contact information but can I sound old school for a minute and ask you to MAIL me a business card?" He laughed and obliged without hesitation by saying "yeah, I get a minimum of 45 emails a day so I completely understand". I'm sadly thinking "that's all?"....
When it's time to log in, I am like an auto-pilot. LOG INTO PERSONAL ACCOUNT-CHECK/LOG INTO BUSINESS ACCOUNT-CHECK/LOG INTO PERSONAL FACEBOOK PAGE-CHECK/LOG INTO BUSINESS FACEBOOK PAGE-CHECK...and I find that I do this so frequently that I will log out of one & log into the other one until I realize that I've already looked at that one, or did I? or was it the other one? or which email has his/her/their email address in it???
Oh I suppose you techies are thinking, "shut the f---- up and just sync all of your accounts together!"... but the point is, I DON'T WANT TO LIVE LIFE THIS WAY!!! My yoga head says "just let go, just be in the present moment, just.... oh shut up yoga head"
Okay, time to slow the heart rate down.... I am happy that we have the technology that we have, but we have become a society obsessed. I personally have shifted this past year and notice a huge difference between old life "Woo hoo, I LOVE the Internet/IPhone/computer" to new life, "holy crap I am sick of looking at a screen".
My solution to this is to make myself slow down technologically. So here is my check list.
1) I am going to write someone a letter instead of an email, because who doesn't like getting a letter?
2) I am going to NOT use my phone in the car to check anything unless I am pulled over and it is vitally necessary
3) I am going to limit how many times I check my email & FB page each day
4) I will look something up in a phone book if I need to (HA HA just kidding!... I have my limits
Okay and even if I still want to love my Ipod as I am am music junkie, this is my attempt at adopting part of what is now called "The Slow Movement" or as I will affectionately refer to it as "Kickin' it 1975 Style".
Now I'm going to make a call... on my rotary dial phone.