Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Free Your Mind!


Free Your Mind Chicago, originally uploaded by TheDarkThing.

Happy Passover, everyone!
This is the holiday of freedom, so I'm contemplating what is it in my life that I need to free myself from. The quick and straight answer is probably - internet and my iPhone. The deeper answer to that is probably - any insecurities that lead me to be so dependent on these technologies, as if I won't be able to survive without them. It's a constant struggle, for someone who is self employed and runs an online business, to balance between work and life (how can one even separate between the two?). My nearly 2 months of traveling (with little bit of home time in between), in which I had my iPhone break for a day, ran out of battery for my laptop for the duration of an entire flight, not to mention had very little internet access while in the many hours I spent on the plane (major modern life crisis, right? ;-) - taught me to get my act together and break my chains to these devices, and try to take a little time off this network. So that I can breathe real air, create real perfumes, and make eye contact with real people that are near and dear to me (especially when we just so happen to be in the same place at the same time - very rare for someone whose majority of the family and close friends live in another country), or even just passers by, including insects and birds (instead of checking if I got any new messages on the phone, which are doubtfully any more important that whatever it is that I'm missing out on when I'm glued to the screen). And no, I don't mean snapping photos of them while I notice them!

One thing I did do when away from the internet on flights etc. was a major spring cleaning in my computer files, and deleting many images I no longer need or serve any purpose. And while sifting through them, I came to the conclusion that there is hardly any need for me to take another single photograph of anything unless I'm taking on some major art project. I probably have enough images in my hardrive to illustrate SmellyBlog to the end of eternity. And as for product shots - I'm thankful to have my brother be in charge of that (delegation, oh, blessed delegation!). There are probably more meaningless images on the entire world's hardrives than anyone is ever going to look at... Which is really sad, considering how much time we spend taking them instead of living the moment.

I'm going to stop right now, before I begin being too preachy (oops... too late!). I'm just really hoping that my real life will be larger than my virtual life this year. I still enjoy writing this blog, and it gives me great satisfaction to interact with my customers (and family, and friends) with the curious channels of communication available to us with all the modern technologies. I'm just seeking a little bit more freedom, to eliminate the misery caused by dependence... Turning my laptop on Saturday prove to be an excellent choice that makes me excited to turn it on again on Sunday morning and begin my work week with new ideas and renewed energy. I'm not sure I am ready yet to do something similar with my iPhone, but I'm certainly getting there... It will free so much more space in my mental hardrive and also free my hands for a larger part of the day to accomplish things in the physical world. And somehow, this sounds almost spiritually compelling...

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12 Comments:

At April 20, 2011 12:57 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Ayala - beautiful, honest post; and one which resonates with many, I'm sure...thank-you!

 
At April 20, 2011 1:59 PM, Blogger Ayala Moriel said...

Thank you, Margi! Glad you found it meaningful. Hope we can all find the freedom we need to be the best people we can be :-)

 
At April 21, 2011 10:35 PM, Blogger Laura said...

I lost my iPhone recently. Like fallen out on the street lost. The loss made me spiral into a stupid panic that was partially legitimate since I had left the thing unlocked and anyone could've seen, oh, bank information and probably a lot of other silly stuff; I was more worried about the latter.

A policeman found it and returned it to me within 24 hours (after I'd already purchased a loaner and ordered a new one - how sad, eh? I couldn't go without my "fix"!)

It's anecdotal proof that I agree with what you write. Completely.

I think there’s a self-correction or a backlash that must necessarily happen. For example, when television began to peak, everyone structured their lives around watching TV. They ate TV dinners on TV tables built for the purpose of making prime time into family time. People seemed to spend ALL their time watching TV. Eventually, heated debates ensued about how much TV was good for kids and whether people were becoming stupider as a result of watching TV. Does it destroy imagination? Does it make one more demand-fed and dumbed-down to the lowest as-seen-on-TV common denominator?

Then, lo, along came the internet and now no one’s watching TV as much as they’re logging on to YouTube. I worry about the Matrix effect. Then I go for a run or read a book or paint a picture and hope that humanity has enough sense to not overdo what entertains it past the point of what mirrors it and makes it interesting.

 
At April 21, 2011 10:37 PM, Blogger Laura said...

I lost my iPhone recently. Like fallen out on the street lost. The loss made me spiral into a stupid panic that was partially legitimate since I had left the thing unlocked and anyone could've seen, oh, bank information and probably a lot of other silly stuff; I was more worried about the latter.

A policeman found it and returned it to me within 24 hours (after I'd already purchased a loaner and ordered a new one - how sad, eh? I couldn't go without my "fix"!)

It's anecdotal proof that I agree with what you write. Completely.

I think there’s a self-correction or a backlash that must necessarily happen. For example, when television began to peak, everyone structured their lives around watching TV. They ate TV dinners on TV tables built for the purpose of making prime time into family time. People seemed to spend ALL their time watching TV. Eventually, heated debates ensued about how much TV was good for kids and whether people were becoming stupider as a result of watching TV. Does it destroy imagination? Does it make one more demand-fed and dumbed-down to the lowest as-seen-on-TV common denominator?

Then, lo, along came the internet and now no one’s watching TV as much as they’re logging on to YouTube. I worry about the Matrix effect. Then I go for a run or read a book or paint a picture and hope that humanity has enough sense to not overdo what entertains it past the point of what mirrors it and makes it interesting.

 
At April 21, 2011 10:38 PM, Blogger Laura said...

I lost my iPhone recently. Like fallen out on the street lost. The loss made me spiral into a stupid panic that was partially legitimate since I had left the thing unlocked and anyone could've seen, oh, bank information and probably a lot of other silly stuff; I was more worried about the latter.

A policeman found it and returned it to me within 24 hours (after I'd already purchased a loaner and ordered a new one - how sad, eh? I couldn't go without my "fix"!)

It's anecdotal proof that I agree with what you write. Completely.

(Continued...)

 
At April 21, 2011 10:39 PM, Blogger Laura said...

(...Continued from before...) I think there’s a self-correction or a backlash that must necessarily happen. For example, when television began to peak, everyone structured their lives around watching TV. They ate TV dinners on TV tables built for the purpose of making prime time into family time. People seemed to spend ALL their time watching TV. Eventually, heated debates ensued about how much TV was good for kids and whether people were becoming stupider as a result of watching TV. Does it destroy imagination? Does it make one more demand-fed and dumbed-down to the lowest as-seen-on-TV common denominator?

Then, lo, along came the internet and now no one’s watching TV as much as they’re logging on to YouTube. I worry about the Matrix effect. Then I go for a run or read a book or paint a picture and hope that humanity has enough sense to not overdo what entertains it past the point of what mirrors it and makes it interesting.

 
At April 21, 2011 10:41 PM, Blogger Laura said...

I think there’s a self-correction that must necessarily happen. For example, when television peaked, everyone structured their lives around watching TV. They ate TV dinners on TV tables built for the purpose of making prime time into family time. People spent ALL their free time watching TV. Eventually, heated debates ensued about how much TV was good for kids and whether people were becoming stupider as a result of watching TV. Does it destroy imagination? Does it make one more demand-fed and dumbed-down to the lowest as-seen-on-TV common denominator?

Then, lo, along came the internet and now no one’s watching TV as much as they’re logging on to YouTube. I worry about the Matrix effect. Then I go for a run or read a book or paint a picture and hope that humanity has enough sense to not overdo what entertains it past the point of what mirrors it and makes it interesting.

 
At April 21, 2011 10:42 PM, Blogger Laura said...

I think there’s a self-correction that must necessarily happen. For example, when television peaked, everyone structured their lives around watching TV. They ate TV dinners on TV tables built for the purpose of making prime time into family time. People spent ALL their free time watching TV. Eventually, heated debates ensued about how much TV was good for kids and whether people were becoming stupider as a result of watching TV. Does it destroy imagination? Does it make one more demand-fed and dumbed-down to the lowest as-seen-on-TV common denominator?

 
At April 21, 2011 10:42 PM, Blogger Laura said...

Then, lo, along came the internet and now no one’s watching TV as much as they’re logging on to YouTube. I worry about the Matrix effect. Then I go for a run or read a book or paint a picture and hope that humanity has enough sense to not overdo what entertains it past the point of what mirrors it and makes it interesting.

 
At April 21, 2011 10:43 PM, Blogger Laura said...

(Sorry for the serial comment posts; Blogger seems to be fussy tonight)

 
At April 21, 2011 10:45 PM, Blogger Ayala Moriel said...

Laura,
Thank you for sharing your story with us! And I appreciate and agree with all your comments. We're totally living in "The Matrix" film kind of reality. Real eye contact is so precious when we use these screens to communicate with far away people...

With that being said, there is so much positiveness to these technologies. I hope we learn how to balance it, rather than replace it with another "fix" (as you described with the internet replacing TV). Somehow, TV never quite got me hooked...

 
At May 11, 2011 12:04 PM, Anonymous allyn said...

great honest post thank you

 

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