>     There is a Blackberry “blackout” today, the cause of which is yet unknown. I’m not a Blackberry user but I have friends who are and their professional and personal lives are tied to it’s function and their reliance upon it. So I think it’s a good opportunity to examine our dependence upon the technology of the 21st century and contemplate life should tomorrow it disappear…or at least became non-functioning, for whatever reason.
    I’m neither a Doomesday nor an Armageddon proponent so I’m not attributing an onerous source or ill intent to the possibility. The “how” of it isn’t my concern. What is my concern is how far we’ve strayed from what it takes to live life in the “slower lane” and just how prepared we’d be to step up and meet that challenge.
    A place we can go to get an idea about what it would be like is one of the many geographic areas that have suffered a natural disaster that interrupted basic services as well as life in general. People who have lived through such experiences have some idea of what it requires and the toll it takes.
    What I find so fascinating about those experiences is the camaraderie and general “pulling together” that is so often exhibited under extraordinarily devastating circumstances. More often than not, something deep within the best of us is touched and moved to heightened levels of empathy and compassion. Somewhere within our Souls we see “the other” as ourselves and seek to render aid and relieve suffering. Out of these moments are born meaning and joy beyond reason.
    This drive towards Oneness, I am certain, is what is at the core of each of us. I am also certain that the pace of the technology has so overridden our natural rhythms that it has become increasingly difficult, in many cases impossible, to slow down long enough to notice discomfort in those we interact with each day, including those closest to us. It may take a disaster of monumental proportions to get our attention, to bring us present, sufficient to open to the needs of those around us. Sadly,  disaster comes in many forms. Yes, it can be the hurricane, the tornado, or the tsumani, but it can also be the cancer, the auto accident or the attempted suicide…although this need not be the case.
    We can awaken voluntarily of our own accord and become conscious around the rate of speed at which we travel and what we’re likely missing along the way. We can respond to little hints, as opposed to tragic acts, to re-focus and re-prioritize our lives in such ways that we become the masters of the technology and therefore the rate of speed, rather than slaves to both.
    I noticed some time ago that when my computer is booting up and loading, some of the technical language built into the hard drive actually uses the words “master” and “slave.” There are no accidents. The words are there and were built into the creation of the technology because like everything else in Life…we get to choose.
    In this case, the choice is whether we continue to be enslaved to our own creations or whether we have the inner strength and outer courage to reverse these roles and take back control of the quality of our lives.
    The Blackberry blackout of today is tomorrow’s technological tsunami. Let’s take the hint and pass on the disaster.

P.S.  Get my inspiring FREE e-book download “Too Many Secrets” at my website!

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