Technology...

This morning, I have spoken to a family member who was 1000 miles away, and I have spoken to a family member who is four miles away.  I received pictures from another family member, and I read social media posts about more people I care about.  I did all this from the comfort of my sofa in the few minutes before I have to get in my car and drive to my job, where I will spend the day using the computer to do everything from accounting to showing customers the products we have available at the click of a mouse.

When my great-grandparents came to the United States, they left family behind, in most cases forever, never to be seen again, with only the very rare letter to keep in touch with their loved ones whom they missed.  When my grandparents were born, telephones were not yet in existence, letters could take weeks, and travel was by horse and carriage or sleigh.  My mother's generation improved on that situation with cars and telegraph and finally the telephone, but it was expensive and inefficient.

When I was young, we still had a telephone party line, and you answered when it was your ring.  Flying was considered An Event, for which you dressed up in your best clothing and paid a fortune to go somewhere exotic and exciting, and you recorded the event on a camera with film which took a week or more to process and get returned.

Today, we have an overload of information available 24/7.  We can find out anything in minutes, we have constant contact if we want it, and the discussion is about turning off the world, instead of tuning in.  We take selfies on our phones to share on our social media, we can video our antics and blast them to the world on YouTube, we can find out anything almost the moment it happens because the internet is everywhere.  It can all be too much, if we allow it to take over our lives.

But the ability to participate meaningfully in the lives of our family and friends when they are on the other side of the country, or the world, far outweighs, in my mind, the downside of social media and cascade of junk disinformation spewing from cyberspace.

I can see my grandson, who lives 500 miles away, in real time, whenever we choose to Facetime.  I can text my husband and expect a response almost instantly, no matter where he might be on the continent.  I can reach out to my mother, my kids, my brother, all my relatives and friends, who are scattered all over the country, and receive a response no matter where they are or what they are doing.  What a gift to be so in touch.

The world is still a big place, and the people I love are scattered all over.  But because of technology, I can keep them close and know about their lives as if they were next door.  I am grateful for the opportunity to be an active part of the lives of so many people, no matter how near or far they may be from me.

Today I am grateful for technology, which allows me to put my thoughts on a blog page and share them with whoever cares to read them.  Life is a journey, and I am glad for the company along the way.