Tonight's picture was taken in October of 2007. Mattie was five years old and was at Butler's Orchard in Maryland. Pumpkin picking was something Mattie loved to do, and it was a family tradition each year. The beauty of Butler's Orchard is that kids ride on a wagon out to the pumpkin fields. There they get to hand pick a pumpkin in the patch. I can't look at a pumpkin today, without thinking of Mattie.
Quote of the day: Technology can be our best friend, and technology can also be the biggest party pooper of our lives. It interrupts our own story, interrupts our ability to have a thought or a daydream, to imagine something wonderful, because we're too busy bridging the walk from the cafeteria back to the office on the cell phone. ~ Steven Spielberg
When I found Spielberg's quotes today, it made me chuckle. I chuckled because there is a great deal of truth in what he was saying about the use of technology and particularly the cell phone. My cell phone addiction started when Mattie was diagnosed with cancer. Prior to that life seemed simpler. But the isolation, the stress, and living 24/7 in a hospital, made the cell phone the perfect companion. After all, the phone was always on, I could write when I was awake (which was always) and people could respond to me on their time schedule. The cell phone provides immediate connectivity, which seems so vital when trapped in a hospital. Isolated from the world and those around you.
Yet I am no longer living in the hospital or helping Mattie manage cancer. So why am I still connected to the cell phone? I realize I am not unique, everyone is glued to a phone, however, the origin of addiction I believe is different from others around me. In a way, the phone provides me security and makes me feel safe. Mattie's cancer has altered my daily habits forever. Not only is my phone always with me, but my toiletries and makeup remain packed in bag. So if you told me right now, I had to leave my home, I would grab my bag and go. I got into that habit when Mattie had cancer, because no doubt whenever we were home a crisis would arise and we would have to be admitted right back to the hospital. Again, I don't live with such constant crises anymore, and yet my bags may say otherwise.
I get my issues, but I am trying to understand the rest of society around me. I see people reading messages on their phone while crossing a busy street, while driving a car, and even while working. Have you ever tried to get help at a store or anywhere else for that matter, and the person you are trying to talk to is engaged with his/her phone? I find this disconcerting and wonder not only about the impact on creativity as Spielberg suggests, but what about the consequences on our attention spans, on our ability to interact face to face and make human connections, and how about the way we process and remember information? It seems to me all of this is rapidly being altered and diminished.
1 comment:
Your post with Mattie & the pumpkin is an eye opener. First, & most importantly how well & beautiful Mattie looks in this picture. How could this beautiful child be so sick a short time later & gone forever so many years now. It is a mystery of life, I will keep trying to uncover but know deep down, I never will🎃
I got my first cell phone 2 months before my Mom died in 1998. So my sisters could reach me quickly after my Mom’ s diagnosis. They could have called at work as they did the months leading up to it but then I was always in our play room, where privacy was an issue & my comments back could have been disturbing to little ears. Since my Mom’s death in 1999, I rarely am without my phone. I was able to give the number to the moms of the Oncology kids with whom I worked. Then even when not at the office, or on weekends they could reach me, they could call or text. I could reach them. I began to see my cell phone as my final gift from my Mom as she did know “ staying Connected “ was important to me. I did not think before that first phone what that all meant.
My reasoning has nothing to do with yours -yours is much more serious & was so very necessary in the time Mattie was sick. I do believe whatever important, necessary life happening that brings us to the phone keeps us there.
I too, keep a bag packed in our spare bedroom. Not sure how many years, I have done this or why. It is the cause for a lot of kidding in my family where your bag always recognized why you were on the alert & ready. Two very different reasons. One very serious, one still being figured out. But we share similarities Vicki❤️
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