Over-Reliance on Technology

Just before Christmas the TV packed up.  We have been without it since, and probably will be for another few months.  To tell the truth we can access Radio, films and programmes that we want to watch via the Internet.  Despite initial concerns from G, neither of us seem to have missed it much.  I think it is like most things if you do not have something then you find something else to do in the meantime.  For us at the moment the TV is not a priority.  There are other more urgent things to attend to.  Each family has their own ideas of what a priority is and no doubt this differs between families.  However for me, although it needs doing,  so do other items especially if we are to make it down to Cornwall this year.

Similarly in the last few days we have been having problems with the Internet with no access for periods throughout the day which has been frustrating in one way or another.  When we have checked with the provider there has supposedly been no outage or down time.  I am suspicious of this as our system which runs two computers, has been up and down like a yo-yo.  This I usually find is if they are doing something on their system.  Equally this morning when the system went down I checked on my phone to see if there were any issues and it came back with a message that we needed an Engineer out.  We flipped the mains electric switch and everything came back on!

Now the computer for me is a different matter. It is an extension of my hands.  I was on a Typewriter or a Computer for over 40 years for work.  It has essentially therefore been part of my everyday for a really long time.  I learned to type at school when I was 15 years of age approximately 57 years ago when the world was a considerably different place.  For me the computer is where I write, specifically this blog but I also interact on other mediums like Facebook and Instagram every so often although my presence there is lesser than on the Blog.  At the moment I am choosing not necessarily to post every day (although in reality the frequency will vary and probably considerably). 

At one time, my phone used to be very busy when I was working.  However since retiring I rarely use it and some days do not even open it.  From being a perpetual habit, requirement or need during my working life it has become peripheral to my life which I do not think is a bad thing overall.

I suppose really I have taken a step back from technology in order to do other things. I know that there is a trend for doing this at the moment from many creators and bloggers.  My needs though are practical ones in many respects. I  like to read and learn and have found that posting everyday leaves me less time for my research as it were. We have to grow, we have to learn (even if we make mistakes). If there are no green shoots or growth things become stagnant and things stop moving forward.

Often of an evening I sit for a while and research items that I am going to have a go at a little further down the line. It has been interesting to see the different techniques between the Patchwork creators and I think you can learn a little from everyone.  This varying from approach to technique, to the way that colour is used and whether you like the design, or whether it triggers you towards an idea of what you would ultimately like to create.  At the moment my specific interest seems to be towards Patchwork, embroidery, sewing and home items such as preserving and cooking and keeping the Pantry stocked.

On Sunday I ventured into the front bedroom and did not get very far.  I still have not located the blessed Sewing machine foot pedal and cable. I want to be playing with some of the patchwork techniques I have seen online and have a go myself and it is currently doing my head in.  I cannot really justify buying a new cable and foot pedal when I know that I have them already in the house and it is just the finding of them that is causing a headache. 

I did manage to get some sorting done though, just a lot more to do than I had anticipated.  It will happen.  I have to do things like this when G is not around as he cannot cope with the house being upside down.  Therefore for the sake of hassle I tend to deal with things in this manner.  If it is all done and dusted without him being involved and without my effort being diluted then it makes the process smoother. My focus and energy are then being directed in the right place rather than being diverted and minimised by being dragged elsewhere.

G is fishing in a match this coming Sunday (22 March 2023) and although I have to go out for a while, I intend on going back into the front bedroom and do a little more sorting.  If he gets back into his routine of fishing which has been on Sundays and Tuesdays predominantly for this coming season, that should help me being able to progress the front room a little more each time.  Sometimes more is done this way especially as items are being re-packed and sorted as I go along.  I do not intend to be here forever and if everything is sorted and ready to go, if the opportunity ever presents itself for us to escape, then the process should technically be less onerous.  I am also getting rid of the items that I no longer need in the process.

Therefore I am trying to achieve an overall balance without over emphasis on Technology across the board.  I intend to use my time more meaningfully with a focus in mind but also with time to actually achieve things.  A long-winded and convoluted route but it should get me there eventually without me having to back-track  And of course there is the garden which needs to be tackled in due course.  It is that time of year again.

Sometimes technology can intrude too much which for me then calls for withdrawal and quietness so that I cause less problems for everyone around me.  I do not like to reflect my low mood or subject others to it. Only ever lasts a few days.  There is a process.  I have to feel sorry for myself, proverbially slap myself straight and bring myself gently back into reality and some sort of normality when I am low, I do not respond very well and have to shake myself out of it as best as I can. My responsibility.  It is the way I am built and my modus operandi which is more to do with me than others.  My way of helping myself heal and nothing to do with others.

Do you use social media to learn or just browse and keep in touch with whatever is going on with this world of ours or do you also have a specific purpose to using it?

Catch you soon.

Pattypan

x

P.S.  I am not in a low mood at the moment - thankfully quite the opposite.

xx