It’s almost Fall – again. I find myself going through the pantry, going through my closets, taking stock of things.
I am also making decisions on what I am willing to put up with for the sake of “keeping up” with the seemingly never-ending, new (and expensive) ways to be in touch and connected.
Yes, menopause is the reason, and yes, it is the only thing I can think about right in this moment that I like about it. Having weird hormones in funny places makes it easy to weed things out that don’t make sense in my life.
If Facebook, and texting, and tweeting, and Linkedin, and Google+, and Pinterest, and of course, emailing and phones weren’t enough wonderful ways to “keep in touch” these days, I personally don’t think any more will help.
It’s kind of interesting, the range and extremes of what people are doing these days with all these ways of connecting.
For instance, I meet people who can’t imagine living without their computer. Really. And from the sound of their voice, I believe them. I had several conversations with friends who ask me, how can I not text? To which I answer, how can you possibly? I don’t have kids, so that seems to be the major deciding factor. I asked one Mom recently why she texted? And she told me that it’s the only way to communicate with them. Hmm.
On the other hand, I hear friends say things like, “I can’t do Facebook any more – it just sucks too much of my time”. Or, “I can’t do Linkedin, it’s too much.” I even have a few friends who have taken a big step and just deleted all their “InBox” and “Sent” messages in their main email account (the other ones they don’t even check!)! Wow. I often imagine doing that, but I just can’t. I asked how it felt when they did that, and they said it felt really, really good. Hmm. Some of my younger friends don’t even have a cell phone. They tell me they can’t afford one. Double hmm.
There seems to be all levels and extremes in this new world regime where technology rules all of us in some way or another.
I am not into “keeping up” with it all any more. I returned my “awesome” iPhone a few weeks ago and feel less irritated in general because I can actually HEAR what others are saying on my simple LG phone. It’s not a smart phone, and believe me, it doesn’t have to be! I feel like I was smart in giving it back though. I already have to go through almost 200 emails every day so why would I want to have them downloaded on my phone?
When I asked my Mac friend if he really, really, likes his iPhone, as a PHONE, and he said, “Well, no, it’s so much more than a phone.” I repeated the question, and he said, “Well, no, there are lots of better phones out there.” Geez!
I am not against technology. I use it. I need a computer for work. I enjoy flittering in and out of FaceBook. I like YouTube. I just don’t want to add anything more!
I wonder how many of us are getting tired of all this technology that seems to be more troublesome and time-consuming than it’s worth?
I create space and balance by being in the garden, and taking walks with my dog. Or baking. Or writing letters. So as long as I can keep the balance, all is well.
Here’s a clip below that I saw recently from Susun Weed, on how to make an easy vinegar to help us with Fall allergies, using Goldenrod. I didn’t know that Goldenrod was such a powerful herb. I just thought it was beautiful to look at. My Goldenrod is just starting to open, and I will make some.
Well that’s it from me this week.
Happy Fall!


















