lost connections....

When the network goes down, it's a sad, sad day! This weekend we lost the Internet in my building and no one was around to fix it until Monday. Writing this out loud makes the whole thing sound really lame, but it completely changed my weekend: I found myself thoroughly cleaning the house (I had meant to before...), going to bed at a decent hour (it's been a while!), reading a book (thanks Alyssa=), listening to my own music again (Phil Keaggy juxtaposed with Disney!) and even taking out the trash (I'll have to write more about the trash process soon).
That's when I realized I'm a computer junkie! Not that this really comes as a surprise, but I was amazed at what it did inside me. There was some relief that I didn't need to be connected to the global community because I couldn't be; but mostly I felt lost without a world of information and communication at my fingertips. At the same time, the chores I normally do grudgingly were not so hard to get up and do-- and even a little enjoyable.
Back in Oregon, at the house in the woods, we would have power outages a few times every year and alongside the frustration of poor timing, I found peace in a quiet house without the whirring/buzzing/beeping/glaring/etc., freedom from technology, and joy in doing things the "hard way." I couldn't finish the things that would otherwise NEED to be done, I couldn't work late into the night to finish just "one more thing," and I found time for people and projects/chores I hadn't seen time for when the lights were on.
Funny thing, this technology; it makes life much more efficient and me much less efficient as a human being. The Internet brings great comfort as I live halfway around the globe from the place and the people I call home, yet its absence has reminded me of a few Truths too. All in all, I'm glad for the chance to step back and see a clearer perspective again; but if the network is still down when I get home, it's no more miss philosophizer-- I want my connection back!