embracing the silence of disconnectivity
February 27, 2008
Yesterday I had a solid meeting with a great company, Zannel. When you think Zannel, think rich media capability meets Twitter with true cross-platform interactivity. Great people, compelling conversation, really nice product.
And this got me thinking. What ever happened to just sitting on a park bench without a cell phone, laptop, mp3 player or other connected device in site? What ever happened to silence?
I really enjoy silence. But I can't stop running after commotion. I find my self checking email constantly, and between Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, blog reading, commenting and writing - not to mention family - there is rarely a moment of silence in my life (other than on Saturdays when I don't use digital media for religious reasons).
As our lives become increasingly more connected, we will find ourselves with fewer and fewer moments of silence and reflection. Connectivity is great, but when will be learn to draw the line? When will we learn to shut it all off and just enjoy the wonder of nothing, the beauty of silence?
When will we see the rise of Connectivity Disconnect Therapy? When will we see hotels and results advertising that their rooms DON'T have internet connectivity? When will we see the first batch of Disconnecting for Dummies style self-help books? When will we learn to stop over-achieving, to hold off from pursuing and just live?
Isn't life a pursuit? Can a person truly live without pursuing? Now that we've tasted digital social media, now that the doors of pursuit are always open, can we stop? Can we learn to shut if off? When does this platform cease being a pursuit and become an addiction?
In the words of the venerable Valeria Maltoni, "it's not about applications, or process, it's about choices we make : )"
For some more discussion around silence, check out some fantastic posts here and here.