THE TREE, pt. 2

Hi there!

How often do you look around and notice the number of individuals looking DOWN on tiny screens? We get wrapped up in our own moments when focused on something so small. Sometimes we miss out on other moments right in front of us. All we have to do is stop and look UP.

Last week I wrote about my SUPER COOL MOMENT with a tree in the neighbourhood. I was taking a walk and the energy emanating from this tree stopped me in my tracks. I was mesmerized by its reverence and beauty. I had an epiphany.

Then I walked away.

A beautiful moment faded. I returned my focus to reaching my destination while my eyes and hands were fixated on an infamous electronic device. I could have written down immediately what I experienced - instead, my thumbs were on fire responding to messages that could have waited.

Many moons ago, I dreaded the infamous mobile phone. I didn’t want to rely on the device for entertainment or other life-sustaining activities. I am not important, I would remind myself, where I need to be reached 24/7. Also, I grew up in the 80s fearing mass forms of technology that would eventually dominate and erase human existence. Y’all, I watched THE TERMINATOR. My main takeaways from this movie and the sequel (Terminator 2: Judgment Day) in 1991: Skynet is real, AI is coming for us all, women CAN kick ass (thank you, Sarah Connor) and DO NOT BE MESMERIZED by a machine’s fancy side-tricks (looking at you, T-1000).

But I digress… sort of.

There seems to be an expectation to be always ON, continuously available to others while sacrificing the simpler things. Even John Connor said: “This is the world now. Logged on, plugged in, all the time.”

Some individuals are required by their job to be on-call & accessible by phone at certain times of the day. Yet we have chosen to be on-call all the time to ourselves. And then we include others in those conversations, via our phones, for instant gratification that isn’t always gratifying in the end. We fulfill a weird void by asking questions similar to: “Where were you? Where are you now? Why didn’t you answer when I called? Did you get my message about the other message? And how about that link with the song talking about the thing? Why did it take more than 17 seconds to respond back???!?!?”

This is what happened to me on May 19th. I was typing one message while receiving another message, reading other messages, and looking at websites and links from other messages to respond to a few more messages. It is impossible to complete one task well when trying to multitask, especially with a phone.

There are days when I deeply miss my friends and the mobile phone becomes the anti-hero in our twisted relationship. Engaging with friends regardless of the platform is important for mental well-being. Engaging in a spiral of negative “blahdy blah” is not so healthy. It drains my energy from participating in activities beneficial to my health.

This brings me back to the tree.

I could have stopped and recorded this special something on my phone right then & there. I thought briefly about recording my voice or videoing myself, or typing into Google Docs or notes app. It didn’t happen. What held me back?

SKYNET.

And, at the time, a soft addiction to one-on-one conversations, regardless of the content.

I chose to continue negative chit-chat over recording an inspiring moment. I undervalued the tree over a draining conversation I thought was fulfilling a need at the time. It was the brain drain that made me forget details about the moment.

And, because of SKYNET, I continue to feel awkward about pulling out my phone for self-affirming activities that could help me feel GOOD. I use Google Docs & Google Keep to capture writing notes & ideas. I’m trying out Notion too. But not on the regular because, y’know. Skynet.

It’s a complicated world. I am torn between the unknown fear of how the machines will kill us all and learning how to chill out.

Complicated and beautiful.

I don’t have all the answers. I do know I had a moment, I was frustrated by forgetting about it, and I let go of the frustration a few days later when I went back to the tree. When I took the photo I wasn’t thinking about the messages to respond to or the fear of nuclear war and murderous machines.

It was just me and the tree.

And my phone, since it is also my camera. Argh!

Many others on the sidewalk were plugged in. After the tree photo-op, I put the phone away and enjoyed the rest of my walk with my head up high. I was less concerned about the SUPER COOL MOMENT I forgot about and & wondering how to get pumped up like T2’s Sarah Connor.

The most important lessons from my beloved childhood Terminator movies were about destiny and the future. Despite fears of the machine uprising (and another horrible sequel to this franchise), I can adapt and change my habits regardless of the path I’m on.

“The future is not yet written.”

Have a lovely day being YOU, fellow creators.

Hasta la vista, baby.

Naddy/Nadine