Techno addictions

Wow, it seems like forever since I updated this blog. This is a really busy time of year for a principal but it won't be long before silence will take over these halls and I'll start wondering how long before my kiddos come back!

I want to take this opportunity to talk about this addiction we seem to have to our technological gadgets. John and I went to the movies the other night and after we found our seats, we pulled out my iphone and began to play Scrabble on it together. This is something we have taken up doing whenever we have several minutes to kill. It is a great way to keep our minds sharp--that's important you know, for us older people to do!

This particular night though, I looked around as I was waiting for John to play and noticed that about 75% of the theater goers had out a phone and were playing games, surfing the internet, checking their e-mail, etc. It occurred to me at that moment that we have become a generation that doesn't know how to wait. There is no such thing as just sitting and doing nothing in our world today.

We recently drove to Myrtle Beach for a family reunion and, in preparation, I packed a big canvas bag full of novels, puzzle books, movies, etc. to give me endless hours of things to do while riding. I found myself just sitting and watching the scenery but feeling terribly guilty for neglecting all that great stuff I brought to do! The idea of just doing nothing was such a foreign concept but after a few minutes I relaxed and just enjoyed myself. Since there were four of us in the car and no one liked the same kind of music, we didn't even have the radio on. Of course, I had my earbuds at the ready should I need to fill that void but slowly I began to embrace the silence instead of dreading it.

Is it any wonder that I often whine about how I wish God would just tell me what His will is when I'm so rarely ever quiet enough to hear Him? Oh, I have my hour or so in the mornings when I do my quiet time but what if He wants to talk to me at some other time besides 5:00 in the morning? What if I turned off my radio in the car on my drive to work? What if I left the television off when I get home instead of watching the news? What if I didn't spend every minute of my "waiting" time texting, facebooking, playing games, or some other socially acceptable preoccupation.

I'm not saying that music, TV, reading, or games are bad things. Those are some of my favorite ways to unplug my brain from the issues I have to deal with. What I am saying is that I am going to look for more times to just sit, quietly, and listen better. Maybe spend more time swinging in my hammock. Now if I could just get it to STOP RAINING!