At times, I worry about the "velocity" of life.
Life seems to move faster and faster... or, rather, we seem to need to jam more and more content into the same amount of time.
Just Think About TV News!
A peaceful spot
Maybe it's just a sign that I am getting old, but I remember when watching "The News" on TV meant you sat down and had someone like Dan Rather or Peter Jennings quite literally "read the news."
Occasionally, you'd break for a couple of minutes and watch a "field report," and then go back to the main newscaster.
When I think about the TV News today, there are a couple of newscasters, about four different "tickers" feeding everything from headlines, to sports line scores, to stock market numbers, to weather... and picture-in-picture reports talking about something other than the main story.
And somehow... we're supposed to take it all in.
Reminds me of an old "Far Side" cartoon, where the nerdy kid in class puts up his hand and says to the teacher "Please may I be excused? My brain is full!"
And so, I am standing in my kitchen...
... sipping my first cup of coffee... and just trying to outline a couple of ideas for today's potential Steemit posts. On paper, with a pen.
Branch floating on a still pond
And then the phone rings, and my wife is shouting something from the other room, and the cat is suddenly on the counter insisting it's breakfast time, the dog starts barking at something outside... and my note taking promptly heads down the drain.
Of course, there's nothing exceptional about the "bucolic" domestic scene unfolding in my kitchen, but I had a moment of insight, realizing that my life just turned into a microcosmic metaphor for our world.
There's too much going on, and we're trying to do and accomplish too much with too little time!
Simplification... and Priorities
"I meant to" write this post this morning, but "life got in the way."
Sunset over Protection Island
Of course, that's mostly a rationalization. The truth is that sometimes we are not active agents in our own lives... in the sense that we don't SET our priorities, we let our priorities be set FOR us.
I look at many of my days, and I realize that they are filled with things I have persuaded myself that I "have to" get done... and by the time I am too exhausted to take on anymore, what's left over on my daily list of ambitions is mostly the stuff I would "like to" get done.
There's a bit of a disconnect there... in the sense that there is a clear gap between the "have tos" and the "want tos." The "have tos" mostly revolve around the fact that it costs money to live and electric bills don't pay themselves... and I am yet to figure out a way to be substantially compensated for my "want tos."
How Often Do we Wrestle With This? Seeking Simplicity...
So here I am, back at setting priorities-- six hours later, making it a priority to write these words. Even though, there are probably client emails to be answered.
Butterfly, resting in the sun
The point?
We have to remember that "things don't change." We are the ones who have to make the changes... otherwise life simply ends up happening TO us. And that sort of sucks. And represents the easy way to get suck in a rut.
Last but not least, I flashed back to an article I read recently. It was written by a "reformed" time management expert who asserted (now in his 60's) that the single best way to manage being overwhelmed by what feels like "too many things that need to be done" is... ta-da... simply to do fewer things.
I think that may be the wave of the future!
How about YOU? Do you feel like life is sometimes overwhelmingly full of "content?" Do you find yourself wishing for a "simpler" life? Are you taking active steps to make that happen... or are you waiting for some "it" to change? What would you like to be different? Leave a comment-- share your experiences and feedback-- be part of the conversation!
(As usual, all text and images by the author, unless otherwise credited. This is original content, created expressly for Steemit)
Published 20170906 17:17 PDT
Excellent article. I like your writing style. Glad to follow you on here, @denmarkguy.
So true, man. Figuring that out more and more as I get older. No one is going to make sure we are not overburdened, ultimately, except ourselves!
I used to sit back and let things happen, but that did me more harm than good - it turned me into an idea killer. I would have great ideas, and then not do anything about them because 'it will be there later'. Ack. Just ack. I've wasted a good portion of my life waiting for something to happen. I have to make things happen. If we don't act on an idea within five seconds, then that idea is gone. I have learned to act. I can't sit back and watch opportunity pass me by another day. What I would like to be different: I would be able to get a good stretch in. I really envy cats and their ability to just stretch it all out.
Thanks for writing!
See ya next time!
Mo
Your post resonates with me pretty deeply. My husband and I are actively working a 5 year plan toward (WAY) early retirement based loosely on paying off our debt, selling everything, quitting our jobs and resetting our lives specifically due to life being too "full." Too full of stuff, obligations and noise. In the meantime, I'm trying to take small steps to turn down the noise to a more tolerable level - stopped watching the news, keep my phone on silent and did a huge purge on social media. The more I simplify, the less stressful life becomes. Thanks for the encouragement, and the inspiration to keep cranking that volume down!
Great post.
You paint quite a picture with the cat ready for breakfast and all..
Most people are too busy, because they have not figured out how to quit their job yet ;-)
Our human family have way to much content to consider in just one day. I think I heard somewhere that we go through the same amount of content per hour, that the 1400 century had in one year. Maybe that's why the average attentionspand is less that 8 sec now. But there is a problem with that, because german scientist like Dr Manfred spitzer, says we are getting a new neurologic problem called Digital Dementia. Another holistic doctor and doctor of nuclear medicine, Manfred Doepp, says we are having something called switching of the brain, which causes lack of coherent thinking, mainly leftbrain dominated "which shot off our creative right part of the brain" and many other problems. Fear is also a very big contributor to "the switching syndrome"
#Simplification... and Priorities#
It have become very simple to me the last 5 years, that the main goal is not running around in the labyrant of materialism or status etc . It's more like finding out the meaning of life, or at least "getting closer", growing in conciousness like many ancient cultures was all about. JMO
Great post
Your post and perspective both deserve being rewarded. Thank you for the gift of time this post required. I however am challenged to do more, not less. That's the trouble with reading quality authors.
My life is in a state of Limbo lately. I'm hanging out in Ohio at my parents house visiting family for the summer before heading out on an around the world trip. I leave in two weeks. I'm reminded this summer that too much time on my hands, is, uh, not handled well by me. It reminds me of the saying, if you want something done, ask a busy person. I've been incredibly unproductive and I've had all the time in the world to do it.
Yes, yes! Way too much content going on here! I'm struggling to fit it all in and keep it all together since going back to work! I also have started to think that I need to find a second job that I can do at home while the kids are in bed in order to make things more comfortable for us. But by the time I get the little ones to sleep, I'm worn out! Your post definitely made me rethink some of the choices that I make through the day. Priorities...that is what I need to figure out!
I can totally relate... life really does feel full to the brim at times. For me, when I start to get overwhelmed by it all, I've recognized that's my cue to step back and see if I can still discern a bigger picture for everything that's happening. Seeing the larger-scale systems of my life turning together helps me to relax a little bit on stressing about the details. Then there are those times where nothing makes sense at all, and I just get to choose to trust that everything will work together in a good way and I get to be along for the ride. Anyway, great post; thanks for the opportunity to pause and reflect!
Great post @denmarkguy! I try to take a deep breath (or several in severe cases..) when I feel that things are happening too fast, it seems to help and to get me to focus on the best way forward.
You bring up many interesting arguments and points.
When I was doing my degree in education my thesis focused on reaching the changing adolescent brain and how they/we "need" information to come at us quickly using multiple stimuli. Your example of the tv news reader compared with today is a great one.
Is the new style better or worse? Right now it just is and it's not always easy to adapt.
Your statement "I am yet to figure out a way to be substantially compensated for my "want tos." is perhaps closer to being solved by you than you credit yourself for.
Another great article @denmarkguy!
When I think about the TV News today, there are a couple of newscasters, about four different "tickers" feeding everything from headlines, to sports line scores, to stock market numbers, to weather... and picture-in-picture reports talking about something other than the main story.
I refuse.
Back in the day I took a psych op course...it had to do with subliminal advertising.
If I can't pay attention to what I see...I refuse to watch any of it.
We've taken so many steps back from things, away from things and into new, more peaceful things. It's an ongoing journey and I'm not in a hurry to get to any destination.
Like you, I haven't found a way to make enough from my want tos to stop doing my have tos, I have however turned my have tos into something a lot closer to my want tos over the years and that has proved powerful. When the work you have to do is a good deal more agreeable to you, I have found that the want tos aren't as important, or maybe rather, that they don't nag me in the same way.
I like to remind myself often that life is roughly 10 % what happens to me and 90% how I chose to react to it.
Just imagine when you have to watch the news in VR one day where they take you down the road of a war zone. I am NOT paying for smell vision!
Live always gets in the way. I’ve struggled for past few days to get my most recent blog out. Had to get ready for a hurricane and could not invest the time I wanted in a really long blog.
I’ve always seen myself as someone who would prefer a simpler life up near the mountains somewhere away from everyone and everything. Life seems to just move to fast these days. Even with all the planning I do, time often escapes my grasp.
I blame the rise of computers for the ever increasing "velocity" if life. Think about it, technology doubles in speed each leap. How can we possibly keep up with that? It is now being talked about if chose to do a degree in some form of technology, by the time you had finished your education your knowledge would already be out of date. Thus it feels like we are all running on a treadmill trying to keep up.