Thoughtful Thursday--Technically fed-up

Do you ever feel like you are being bombarded by technology? Just the utter volume of information at my fingertips blows me away! I feel like America has become fat on information. And I'm not sure it's really helping.

For a long time, especially when I was younger and idealistic(more so than now), I wanted to live "off-the-grid". I was fascinated by the Amish lifestyle. Their life seemed like, even though it was hard, it would be very rich and satisfying. They work for what they have. When you don't have to work for something, you don't appreciate it as you should. Not that I want to turn off our power and get rid of our dish washer.

Recently. after watching Jane Eyre as a matter of fact, I realized I was fed-up with technology and the over-abundance of it. It all just came to a head. 

What I realized, as I was watching this movie, 

on a digital-video-disc, 

on a television screen, 

was that they had to make their own entertainment or hire people to entertain them.

In the evenings, if they wanted music, there had to be someone there who knew how to play the piano-forte, or the flute, or had a gifted singing voice. They couldn't simply walk over to a radio and push a button. Or turn on the satellite TV and choose from thousands of music genres. Someone had to take the time to learn to play, and someone had to compose the music.

If someone wanted to memorialize a beautiful landscape, they didn't just hold up their cell phone and snap a picture. It required time and training to commit that scene to paper. Again, if you wanted a picture of a loved-one or sweetheart, you had to draw them yourself or commission someone who could. 

Because of the ordeal it was to recreate the likeness of something or someone, I believe that is why the literature from a couple centuries ago is so rich with detailed descriptions. That is a big reason why I love Jane Eyre so well. The author writes such descriptions, you don't need illustrations to envision people or places. I wish I was able to describe things half so well. I've been so spoiled. All I have to do is take a picture; I don't have to explain how a thing looks to someone. When required to recently, I had a hard time explaining what a Christmas ornament looked like that I'm working on. 

"Oh, it's a little white square, a pillow, with "Joy" stitched on it. It has little red flowers and some swirly green things around it."

Now, if I really tried, I could describe it as: 

"It is a small, square, white pillow hanging on the diagonal. Inside it will have some evergreen needles, so that it will smell like Christmas. For decoration, on one side it will have "Joy" embroidered in the center and around it there will be 4 semi-randomly placed small, red flowers, artistically arranged green scrolls and a few tiny french knots sprinkled around. On the other side, the year will be embroidered. It will be finished by a blanket stitch border in green."

And here's the actual ornament:

(Okay, so that one says "Hope") (Thanks for the idea, Robin's egg blue)

Now, don't get me wrong. I don't hate technology, Obviously. I am using a computer to write this after all. Technology is a tool that is very useful. I just feel like it can be over-used, until it is hurtful.

Real, actual skillfulness is getting more rare each day. People are excited about all that technology can do, but every time a computer learns a new skill, that's another one that a person won't have to learn.

As I've said many times, "If I didn't believe in the Sovereign God, I would think I was born in the wrong century."

I love the simplicity of my life. I like connecting with my Creator through nature. I want to remember that and not get caught up in gadgets and the latest things computers can do for me.

I guess I would like to just get away from it all for a little while.