A few months ago I saw a post on Facebook from a
lady, who was sitting in an office, and saw most people on their phones rather
than read the magazines offered. This
struck her as people maybe being slightly selfish, and wanting to be more
absorbed in their own worlds than in the immediate world around them. And when I read that, I thought momentarily
that she is right. But then I quickly
changed my mind. Why you may ask? Well, the answer is simple. I want to know what is going on in the world
of other people.
Someone commented on that post about people
missing out on the beauty of the world around them – like watching squirrels
scamper across yards gathering nuts, listening to birds sing or just in general
seeing all the people who may cross their paths. I can totally understand this
point of view. While at the office, I
sometimes look out my windows to see squirrels going here and there across the
parking lot looking for nuts to store up for winter and watching birds fly to
and fro. I miss out on some much of
nature being cooped up in an office.
*But I am extremely happy and grateful to be in an office on really hot
& cold days and days of bad weather.*
But back to my last statement in the first
paragraph. I am an extremely curious
person. I love knowing what’s going on
around me and around the world. I enjoy
listening to the news on NPR; I am not a huge fan of local news, and have not been
for a long time. I enjoy reading
people’s blogs - specifically of people who travel around the world, either for
a living or just about their vacations to foreign lands. I genuinely love
seeing pictures from around the world – gorgeous beaches, majestic mountain ranges,
luscious rainforests, food & craft markets in large cities, wild animals,
beautiful valleys, mesmerizing rivers lakes & oceans, and so much
more.
By watching videos online & tv shows,
looking at pictures and reading blogs, I get to see parts of the world that I
may never get to see. And if I am
fortunate enough to travel to more of our own country or other places around
the globe, there is no guarantee that what I view now online or on tv will
still be the same whenever I may get to visit.
For example, I watch some travel and food shows and they highlight some
really cool food & craft markets around the world; but if I get to go there
someday, then the markets may change to something unrecognizable or may even be
non-existent. The oceans, lakes and
rivers could become more trashed or lakes and rivers could dry up in the
future.
So, yes I will freely admit that I am one of
those people seen playing on their phones when in public – for instance: in the
waiting room at a doctor’s office or waiting for a table at a restaurant. And yes, sometimes I am playing around just
wasting time – checking up on Facebook, reading celebrity news and other
non-useful, brain-deadening stuff. But I
try not to make all my time on my phone to be mind-dulling. I try to learn new things, catch up on serious
news or read about peoples lives – like how women are defying the religious and
male-dominated societal customs in middle-Eastern countries, people who’ve
invented cool things, had incredibly interesting lives or had great adventures. With the immediate availability of
information from around the world and its people, I love learning about things
going on globally.
However, I am not absorbed in my phone all the
time when in public. If there are
magazines offered in a waiting room, I will sometimes pick one up to browse. I sometimes like losing myself in something –
a book, crafts, etc – that cannot connected to the internet. And in the occasional places where I cannot
use my phone or read a magazine, I am pretty good at keeping myself amused – my
thoughts alone are enough to keep me stimulated and captivated. Ha! J
So in my posts, I usually try make a point –
whether it is a reasonable sounding point or may sound plain crazy in the eyes
of others. But with this one, I am not
sure if a point can actually be made.
After reading the Facebook post mentioned at the beginning, I felt I had
to defend myself even though the woman was not talking to me directly. I wanted to say that is ok to sometimes be
absorbed on our phones or tablets or other such device. And that is ok to not read magazines. It is ok to be sucked into the social media
world or gaming or mindless reading sometimes.
This is one beneficial tactic that our busy, over-worked, over-tired
brains need sometime – time to completely chill out and zone out. This time can be kind of refreshing and
restful. So however, you spend your
downtime, I hope it is pleasant and maybe a little constructive.
Today’s pun comes courtesy of the interwebs ---
If Apple made a car, would it have Windows?
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