Constant contact
09/08/23 03:12
NOTE TO REGULAR READERS: My journal posts will not be posted daily as usual at the end of this week. I will continue to write my journal, but I will be away from my computer and out of touch with the Internet. I will not post on Friday and I may not post on Saturday. We will be camping in a location with no Internet and no cell phone service. I will make a “catch up” post when I return, but it will take time to transcribe my hand-written notes. There will be a similar break in the usual during September.
I have a friend who takes a “digital detox” day every week. One day each week is set aside to step away from email. As far as I know email is the only digital communication from which that person abstains, though it is possible that voice mail may also meet with no response on that day. I’m pretty sure that the person uses a cell phone and also listens to podcasts, streams videos, and engages in other digital entertainment, though I am unsure of the details. I haven’t felt the need to be similarly disconnected. I have found, however, that I am checking email and other communications a bit less frequently now that I am not employed.
There are some activities that we love that work best without constant connection. For example, we love to hike and camp in the mountains and we go places where there is no cell phone service. This used to be common. I can remember when cell phones didn’t work at church camp and it didn’t bother me to be outside of cell phone range for a week of camp. There used to be times when we left our phones at home when heading into the hills because we knew that there would be no service. Then they built more cell phone towers and improved the devices we carry. However, I still know a few places in remote mountain valleys where there is no cell phone reception. Those are beautiful places well worth visiting and we are capable of being safe even when we are temporarily out of touch.
There are many adventurers who travel to remote locations who now carry satellite communications devices. I could purchase such a device that would allow loved ones to tract our location and enable emergency messages from any point on the globe. If lI were engaged in extended expeditions, I would probably budget for such a device. However, it doesn’t seem necessary for our occasional ventures outside of cell phone coverage and so far I haven’t been interested in paying the cost of the device and the service to make it operate.
More interesting to me is the simple fact that I am learning to ignore some of my messages for longer periods of time. I used to feel a need to deal with all of the notifications on my phone each time I picked it up. this meant that consulting my phone for a moment could lead to my being distracted from whatever was going on. Somehow the insistence of emails and voice messages took precedence over some of the things I was doing.
However, I no longer feel the same obligation to stay in touch. I am no longer “on call” and expected to respond to emergencies. And I find I am becoming more comfortable with periods of simply not responding to every message that comes to my phone. I suspect that my new habit of ignoring my phone could become a worry for our children. They are used to responding to each other’s instant messages throughout the day. They know that I don’t respond to every picture or cute quote that is shared, but I don’t want to have them think I don’t enjoy the pictures of grandchildren’s activities. I sometimes am content to enjoy the picture at my own pace and don’t feel a need to respond with an emoji. I never got into emojis in the first place.
The contemporary mode of constant contact and communication isn’t always reassuring. I can remember when we operated on a “no news is good news” assumption. We knew that loved ones would find a way to communicate if there was a crisis or a need, so when they were traveling we didn’t worry if we didn’t hear from them. We assumed that it meant that they were having a good time and enjoying new adventures. For the most part we were correct in our assumptions. These days, however, if I go a day without responding to text messages, I need to inform my family in advance. Otherwise they will worry. I suspect that our daughter worries when we do inform her that we will be heading into the mountains and will be out of touch.
When our children were little we thought nothing of spending a couple of nights camped in a location with no access to telephone communications. With our grandchildren, we feel a different need to keep in touch. We think about where we will be going and how we will get messages to their parents when they are with us. Most of the time we don’t go places where there is no cell phone service. I am careful to make sure that my phone is charged and that I check for messages regularly. I make a point of taking a few pictures of the grandkids and sending them to parents even if our adventure will last only a few hours.
My new phase of retirement is allowing me to take a fresh look at my use of digital tools and to make a few new choices about how I use them. I’m learning to be a bit more comfortable with having some times when I am not responding to messages. I’m trying to make conscious decisions about when to be closely connected and when to be less connected.
I’ve even read a few articles about satellite communicators. I’m not planning to get one anytime soon, but I haven’t ruled out the possibility. For now I’m enjoying being out of touch from time to time.
I have a friend who takes a “digital detox” day every week. One day each week is set aside to step away from email. As far as I know email is the only digital communication from which that person abstains, though it is possible that voice mail may also meet with no response on that day. I’m pretty sure that the person uses a cell phone and also listens to podcasts, streams videos, and engages in other digital entertainment, though I am unsure of the details. I haven’t felt the need to be similarly disconnected. I have found, however, that I am checking email and other communications a bit less frequently now that I am not employed.
There are some activities that we love that work best without constant connection. For example, we love to hike and camp in the mountains and we go places where there is no cell phone service. This used to be common. I can remember when cell phones didn’t work at church camp and it didn’t bother me to be outside of cell phone range for a week of camp. There used to be times when we left our phones at home when heading into the hills because we knew that there would be no service. Then they built more cell phone towers and improved the devices we carry. However, I still know a few places in remote mountain valleys where there is no cell phone reception. Those are beautiful places well worth visiting and we are capable of being safe even when we are temporarily out of touch.
There are many adventurers who travel to remote locations who now carry satellite communications devices. I could purchase such a device that would allow loved ones to tract our location and enable emergency messages from any point on the globe. If lI were engaged in extended expeditions, I would probably budget for such a device. However, it doesn’t seem necessary for our occasional ventures outside of cell phone coverage and so far I haven’t been interested in paying the cost of the device and the service to make it operate.
More interesting to me is the simple fact that I am learning to ignore some of my messages for longer periods of time. I used to feel a need to deal with all of the notifications on my phone each time I picked it up. this meant that consulting my phone for a moment could lead to my being distracted from whatever was going on. Somehow the insistence of emails and voice messages took precedence over some of the things I was doing.
However, I no longer feel the same obligation to stay in touch. I am no longer “on call” and expected to respond to emergencies. And I find I am becoming more comfortable with periods of simply not responding to every message that comes to my phone. I suspect that my new habit of ignoring my phone could become a worry for our children. They are used to responding to each other’s instant messages throughout the day. They know that I don’t respond to every picture or cute quote that is shared, but I don’t want to have them think I don’t enjoy the pictures of grandchildren’s activities. I sometimes am content to enjoy the picture at my own pace and don’t feel a need to respond with an emoji. I never got into emojis in the first place.
The contemporary mode of constant contact and communication isn’t always reassuring. I can remember when we operated on a “no news is good news” assumption. We knew that loved ones would find a way to communicate if there was a crisis or a need, so when they were traveling we didn’t worry if we didn’t hear from them. We assumed that it meant that they were having a good time and enjoying new adventures. For the most part we were correct in our assumptions. These days, however, if I go a day without responding to text messages, I need to inform my family in advance. Otherwise they will worry. I suspect that our daughter worries when we do inform her that we will be heading into the mountains and will be out of touch.
When our children were little we thought nothing of spending a couple of nights camped in a location with no access to telephone communications. With our grandchildren, we feel a different need to keep in touch. We think about where we will be going and how we will get messages to their parents when they are with us. Most of the time we don’t go places where there is no cell phone service. I am careful to make sure that my phone is charged and that I check for messages regularly. I make a point of taking a few pictures of the grandkids and sending them to parents even if our adventure will last only a few hours.
My new phase of retirement is allowing me to take a fresh look at my use of digital tools and to make a few new choices about how I use them. I’m learning to be a bit more comfortable with having some times when I am not responding to messages. I’m trying to make conscious decisions about when to be closely connected and when to be less connected.
I’ve even read a few articles about satellite communicators. I’m not planning to get one anytime soon, but I haven’t ruled out the possibility. For now I’m enjoying being out of touch from time to time.
