Posted on by JJones

Off the Wall: A walk through history

So, I’ve been away for longer than I expected, but my husband and I took a walk through history without technology!  We outlawed iPads, and laptops. Phones were only used in case the kids had to reach us. This was a vacation in itself. Not saying I don’t enjoy writing to you all, but it felt quiet. I had to laugh to myself when I wrote this, because the first thing that came to my head was, Hermoine Granger telling Harry Potter, “Even in the wizarding world,  hearing voices isn’t a good sign.” 

It does seem that technology always keeps us connected or at least it is suppose to. My daughters are always annoyed when I leave my cell phone at home. I tell them I liked it better when phones were attached to the wall, so you weren’t expected to always answer. But while I fuss and grip,  it is great that we can now communicate so easily. It just comes at the cost of solitude. I don’t want to sound like a hermit but I do think that we need to guard that treasured silence.  As Maya Angelou puts it, “Solitude can be a must-be-desired condition. In silence, we listen to ourselves, and in the quietude we may even hear the voice of God.”

I enjoyed being with my husband and myself as we went from the Chesapeake Bay area to the Outer Banks. We saw Yorktown, Jamestown, and any town in between. We walked where pirates strolled, and where men first flew. Returning to the present I can say it was great walking through the past together, without any Facebook likes. But I hope to get some ‘likes’,  when I share the trip photos!

I’d suggest a vacation from technology with an understanding that technology is a huge part of our lives.  Enjoy some solitude but be thankful for the many ways we can connect to those we love.  Just don’t let the many voices of  technology take control. I have to remind myself of this a lot. Technology can be all consuming and addictive.

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Posted on by JJones

Off the Wall: Lonely or Comfortable in my Skin

“Loneliness is and always has been the central and inevitable experience of every man.”
– Thomas Wolfe

In a world filled with lonely people, the question arises why can we not connect? My youngest daughter is going through that painful, God awful period of life call ‘Middle School’. I rarely have met one adult that looks back fondly on those awkward years, but trying to explain this to a fourteen year old is near impossible. In her mind and heart she is the only person that has ever felt invisible.

I ask her why do you imagine that most of the musicians you admire have a song on loneliness? Why do you think that countless poems, novels, and paintings, all try to unravel this agonizing feeling? The answer is we all are lonely in our skins at one time or another. But if we can learn to be comfortable in our skin, we can find solid ground to overcome loneliness and reach out to others. It is in rare connections that we as individuals become united in understanding.

When I was younger I had a theory we are all in our own little bubbles.  I pictured individuals floating around in these fragile transparent globes. Within the bubbles we had our own thoughts, and dreams. In watching bubbles float through the air,  I saw  just how quickly one could pop. But sometimes that rare bubble would touch another bubble and they would become one, floating upwards in the sky.

I suppose that in some ways that is how it works. We are born within our own world, moving through life. Each person hoping to connect to someone.

Taking the chance of sharing your world with others, can be risky. But sometimes you find that rare person that you can feel connected to, the person you can trust with your own vulnerabilities. I think that is worth all the risk in the world.

The first step in overcoming loneliness, is figuring out who you are, and becoming comfortable in your own skin. This part has to be the most difficult. We all struggle with insecurities, that seem to rise up, at just the wrong moment. But if we can accept our own flaws, and embrace our own strengths, we will find it easier to understand others. This is something we work on throughout our lives, not just in the halls of Horrorville Middle School.

How can someone understand you, if you cannot understand yourself? Take sometime to get to know yourself, and love who you are. Find solitude and peace, not pain and rejection.

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