Ping! Buzz! Ding-Ding! My electronic devices are constantly talking to me. Sort of like kids who are always peppering mom with a million demands – I need this! I’m hungry! When can we go out to play? At least that’s how I imagine kids to be. Kind of hard for me to be accurate here since my daughter has four legs, a fur coat and a ferocious bark. Her needs are simple: food, water and some outside time – not very demanding at all.
But my electronic devices are always demanding something of me. Read this, can you answer this question, here’s some news. Answer me, answer me, answer me! Just like most of us, I’m always connected, all of the time and technically always available.
In some ways all this connectivity has made our lives easier. Who remembers not wanting to leave the house just in case that special guy called for a date? I do – what a waste of time that was! At least with mobile phones and computers there’s no need to wait. That special guy can call always find me if he wants to. Yes Hubby, I mean you. Hubby is breathing a sigh of relief.
There are a million good reasons for all this connectivity. And I’ve bought into the program. I’ve got the latest gadgets so I can be connected personally and professionally. All the time; 24/7/365. I’m actually annoyed on occasion if I can’t get in touch with someone. Geez – answer the call/email/text; don’t you hear the pinging?
As good as it is to be connected and as fun as all those social networks are, I’ve come to the realization that I need a break. I seriously need a break. With all this connectivity, I can’t seem to turn off the pinging, dinging and buzzing and relax for a while. Hard to believe that I can’t just chill by the pool or watch a movie or read a magazine. It’s gotten so bad that Hubby and I can hardly sit through a meal without checking our electronic devices. Here I am, sitting next to the man of my dreams, and I’m worried about missing something “important” when my electronic device goes off.
So this week I’ve disconnected. Thanks to technology, I was able to schedule this post days in advance. As you read this, Hubby and I will be sitting in a cabana by a beautiful pool at a resort. Hopefully I’ll be reading a book or a magazine – the old fashioned way, not on an electronic device. That would be too tempting. Maybe we’ll be watching a movie or a sunset or simply talking to each other, uninterrupted.
What’s that? You want to know if I’m really disconnected or if I’ve slipped up and peeked at my electronic devices? I’ve done it before so I’m convinced I can do it again. Since this post was written in advance, you’ll have to trust that I’ve stuck to my guns and disconnected.
Trust me; just don’t ping me.
© Tami Cannizzaro 2012 All Rights Reserved
Like Tami, I was terminated once (By my best friend, BTW – he is now on the board of the agency I lead, so I got him back – ha!), but you don’t have to be unemployed to learn something from this book. 
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