Disconnected

I have been know to hide for days. Friends and family always say the same thing when I get back in the loop “where have you been?”

We all know that technological advances have made connection easier than ever before. They have also led me to believe that breaking away is a violation of the social order. Friends and family call all day long and when they can not reach me on a land line they call me on my cell phone, when that does not work, they text me, e-mail me and so on. Then when they finally get a hold of me I am chastised for not returning phone calls. I am chastised as though the ability to communicate with them in half a dozen ways makes constant attention to every one of them morally imperitive.

During these times I find myself wanting to become downright Amish. I become even more commited to avoiding all modern technology. I unplug phones, turn off my cell phone, and avoid computers. I have come to realize that if I do not lose touch with them I will lose touch with me. Silence is golden.

My ability to connect with others I feel is a resource much more precious than even money, so I need to manage it well. I have realized that there are those I feel more bonded to than others, and I have seen in those the return in my investment is a good one. I feel enriched and good. Others not so much, afterwards I feel robbed and depleted.

So to those of you that feel as I do. That are known in your families or with friends as a hermit or the weird one who at times disconnects, and does not care. I know what you are feeling and it is not wrong to feel that way.

The crispness of the fall air has reminded me that a weekend or even a day of disconnecting is in order soon. The winter months for me at least are a perfect time to disconnect.

Silence is golden and realizing that while still being a part of this modern world has given me the ability to not lose touch with myself.