One of my pet peeves is people who take social media or blogging breaks and then go on social media to talk about how wonderful the break was, and how much better life is without the social media they're currently using to share this information. I mean, the hypocrisy! However, I also do understand that being intentional with your time and disconnecting is a very good and necessary thing. And it's far more realistic that we will take "breaks" but still engage in social media; it's such a part of normal life for many people these days that it's not realistic to quit completely. As people grow more and more spread apart these virtual communities and devices keep us connected--I use my computer to Skype my family, I'm on Facebook to see what friends from high school are up to, WhatsApp lets me talk to both groups halfway across the world without hefty cell phone charges. But as I mentioned in another post recently, it is the time away from those devices that gives us something to talk about when we do connect; a story worth sharing over Skype or Whatsapp. If I sit at my computer all day typing away and editing pictures, the conversation is brief. "How'd your day go?" "Good, I stared at a screen for 10 hours." I suppose all this is on my mind because I recently went to an art museum and a few days later to a piano recital and both were just such lovely engaging experiences that filled me with more creative energy than a dozen mind-numbing hours scrolling through Pinterest ever could (although I still love my Pinterest...). At the piano recital listening to pieces composed by Bach and Brahms in an otherwise still room, you could just feel your mind opening up and filling with thoughts. There were no distractions and the rhythm of the songs swept over and through you. It wasn't the stuffy classical music you might hear on the radio and feel bored; it was the emotional, powerful music as if sent through a time machine sweeping you back to an era. It reminded me of the Archers (a film production company from the 1940s) and how Pressburger would go to Scotland between projects "for a walk in the hills" to clear his head. After these trips he could come back with a new creative idea and ready to pursue the next film project. When was the last time we let ourselves fully disconnect and wandered through some hills to clear our heads? Or conversely, fully connect. To focus in on one thing with no distractions and let that sweep you away. The way one painting in a museum can stop you in your tracks if you just let yourself focus on it, or the way a piano concerto in a dusky room can open your mind in a thousand directions...
CONVERSATION