I really like facebook, whatsapp, text messages, instagram and all the other fantastic ways we have to connect to people. These devices have been especially good since I have moved around a lot and met many interesting people on the way that I want to have in my life, even if they are not close physically. And of course being able to reach my beloved family with just a sentence in our whatsapp group, that is very encouraging. I get pictures of my beautiful nieces sent to me in an instant, I get to see how they grow, even if I am not there.
But I also have to say that sometimes being constantly connected drains my energy. To always be expected to be reached, to be expected to answer within the hour, or at least the same day... Someone is always expecting a reply. It’s usually no problem, there is always a moment over for replies while you wait for the bus, or while on the bus, the subway, or during a commercial break on TV.
To be able to be reached all the time has put some kind of extra stress on life, at least my life, even if it also made it easier. I have started to turn off my data plan so I cannot be reached when I’m not hooked up to a WiFi, it feels pretty good to know that I can ignore anyone trying to reach me. The replies have to wait.
I remember when I lived in Long Beach, CA, the first time, in 1997, for the first time far away from family and friends. I was still calling my family every two weeks or so on a landline, I wrote long handwritten letters, and expected a handwritten letter back in a month or so, if I was lucky. I am probably romanticizing it all, but life felt a little less stressed back then. Perhaps because I was 20 years old and had my whole life ahead of me helped, but still… I don’t consider myself too old now, but a lot has changed in 16 years. Connected or not, I always know my family loves me, and that is strength in itself :).
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