New Year's Musings
Well, here we are almost in 2010. For some of you, depending on how old you are, that might not be a big deal. After all, time passes regardless of our own lives. Will we be able to shorten the date to '10? Or will that be confusing to some, and will we be requested to write out "2010" each time? Seems like a silly thing to spend time thinking about, doesn't it? How many of us spend time thinking - or perhaps worrying - about "silly" things? Do you? Do you ever question why or wonder about it? Do you admonish yourself perhaps, and tell yourself you shouldn't do that?
Regardless of how you deal with your thoughts (unless they're a problem and are interfering with your daily life), it seems there are so many things to worry about these days. And it seems like most of us just have too much on our minds, so much so to the point of not remembering things - big and little. Most of us forget why we just went into the kitchen... "What was I going to do in here?" ... or where we put something..."I just had that pen in my hand..." and I think it's simply that we are trying to do too much.
I just came back from my neighbor's house. Their newly married son and his wife are visiting from out of state. Three family members were all sitting in the same room, two of them on their laptops, and the third one on his ITouch. The "new" American Family - a Portrait. I wish I'd had my camera. So many of us these days are spending so much time with technology that we are not spending time with each other. We find our family communication coming to a standstill or breaking down.
My daughter and her husband took their two year old to Big Bear for the week, where they have a timeshare. She called this morning to tell me there is snow, and it took them 6 and 1/2 hours to get there - it should be a 3 hour drive from the San Fernando Valley. But traffic was heavy the day after Christmas. My grandson slept for 4 hours (they timed it that way), but he woke up for the last two hours and cried all the way there. She said they might breakdown and buy a portable DVD player for the ride home. When my kids were little, we had no idea we'd ever have anything like DVDs, let alone something that would allow us to play them in the car! When we went on car trips with our kids, we played games and counted cars and out of state license plates and talked about the scenery; we listened to books on tape at times. The world is changing. When my kids were little, I admit I used Sesame Street to keep them out of my way while I made dinner or when I needed a little rest in the mid-morning. I have no problem with parents playing DVDs for kids on long trips, but I'd like to think they use it as a last resort, and don't just automatically put it on.
I teach in a graduate program at a local private university. The students bring their laptops to class and expect professors will have PowerPoint presentations for each class and that we will also post our PowerPoint's online before class so they can just download them. I've thought about banning laptops in my class. I know many of the students are surfing the net, or reading their emails during class, but I've decided that they are adults; this is grad school - if they are doing that, it is their own loss and it doesn't detract me from my teaching. They are still responsible. But I wonder how they will respond next semester when I don't do PowerPoints? I think of it as an experiment. When I was in grad school, no one ever anticipated that there would be a computer so small you would be able to take it with you anywhere! Now there are some that are so small, they fit in a purse and you don't even need a special case for them. How the world is changing... I really think someday we will evolve to the point where we can communicate telepathically and we won't need anything to do it; maybe we will evolve beyond our bodies and won't have bodies; we'll just be "energy" floating around in the ether.
Whatever you find yourself thinking about, or maybe ruminating about, I wish you a healthy and happy new year in 2010.
Regardless of how you deal with your thoughts (unless they're a problem and are interfering with your daily life), it seems there are so many things to worry about these days. And it seems like most of us just have too much on our minds, so much so to the point of not remembering things - big and little. Most of us forget why we just went into the kitchen... "What was I going to do in here?" ... or where we put something..."I just had that pen in my hand..." and I think it's simply that we are trying to do too much.
I just came back from my neighbor's house. Their newly married son and his wife are visiting from out of state. Three family members were all sitting in the same room, two of them on their laptops, and the third one on his ITouch. The "new" American Family - a Portrait. I wish I'd had my camera. So many of us these days are spending so much time with technology that we are not spending time with each other. We find our family communication coming to a standstill or breaking down.
My daughter and her husband took their two year old to Big Bear for the week, where they have a timeshare. She called this morning to tell me there is snow, and it took them 6 and 1/2 hours to get there - it should be a 3 hour drive from the San Fernando Valley. But traffic was heavy the day after Christmas. My grandson slept for 4 hours (they timed it that way), but he woke up for the last two hours and cried all the way there. She said they might breakdown and buy a portable DVD player for the ride home. When my kids were little, we had no idea we'd ever have anything like DVDs, let alone something that would allow us to play them in the car! When we went on car trips with our kids, we played games and counted cars and out of state license plates and talked about the scenery; we listened to books on tape at times. The world is changing. When my kids were little, I admit I used Sesame Street to keep them out of my way while I made dinner or when I needed a little rest in the mid-morning. I have no problem with parents playing DVDs for kids on long trips, but I'd like to think they use it as a last resort, and don't just automatically put it on.
I teach in a graduate program at a local private university. The students bring their laptops to class and expect professors will have PowerPoint presentations for each class and that we will also post our PowerPoint's online before class so they can just download them. I've thought about banning laptops in my class. I know many of the students are surfing the net, or reading their emails during class, but I've decided that they are adults; this is grad school - if they are doing that, it is their own loss and it doesn't detract me from my teaching. They are still responsible. But I wonder how they will respond next semester when I don't do PowerPoints? I think of it as an experiment. When I was in grad school, no one ever anticipated that there would be a computer so small you would be able to take it with you anywhere! Now there are some that are so small, they fit in a purse and you don't even need a special case for them. How the world is changing... I really think someday we will evolve to the point where we can communicate telepathically and we won't need anything to do it; maybe we will evolve beyond our bodies and won't have bodies; we'll just be "energy" floating around in the ether.
Whatever you find yourself thinking about, or maybe ruminating about, I wish you a healthy and happy new year in 2010.
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