Stepping into Near Reality... and Away
Four hundred yards from the back of my house is the ocean - not the beach, but the ocean. The beach part is about a mile away.
It was a hot summer here. For a variety of reasons, I haven't been to the beach in nine or 10 weeks.
Today I went.
It was cloudy, breezy, beautful and quiet.
As I sat there, I realized what others likely know. I was basking in the silence, salt, sea, and sand, and it dawned on me that soldiers are dying, Jews and Palestinians are being blown up, children are dying, women are starving, families are homeless, HIV is infecting.... and I couldn't sit there anymore.
I'd been there 20 minutes.
Information overload.
For months, between dealing with family health and wellness issues and being Internet-connected 15+ hours a day, I realized there's only so much that can be taken in.
Information overload is overstated and little understood. We all know how to scan though our essential readings, delete spam with a keystroke, and go about our lives. But there are times...
There are times when the ways of the world spin so far out of control, that one becomes more plugged in, more aware of something other than self. And if s/he who becomes aware actually processes the information, the findings are staggering.
So more is read. More is listened to. More is processed. And the brain expands. And expands. And expands.
Then, it eiether works itself into a frenzy, explodes and ends up in a nut house, shuts down, or shares.
And when there is no sharing, as is the case for many million of people who live alone or live alone with very young children, there's a problem.
No matter what one's skills or talents, they are needed in this troubled mess we've created. But with all intake and no output, the soul can implode.
permalink posted by: jgh 6:53:44 PM
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