Last night I watched this heartbreaking story about the foreclosure crisis in California. This isn’t an isolated problem. It is happening all over America. I watched as contractors hauled out all the personal belongings from a family home, and tossed them in a dumpster. I saw electronics, furniture, toys and family photos. This family had left everything behind. I was struck with compassion and tried to imagine what that would be like. My second thought was a strong hope that this would not happen to me or my loved ones.
I watched it a second time and my perception began to change. Where at first I thought they had left everything behind, I then realized what they had left behind was a bunch of “stuff.” None of it was life-sustaining. None of it was of cultural significance. Even family photos would lessen in value when faced with the prospect of preserving life. I started to look around my own home at all my stuff. If I had to leave in an instant, my family (and the dog) would be the only thing that mattered. I wouldn’t care about any of this stuff.
I began to wonder, if I really feel that way, why do I have all of it? What good is it? How does it make me a better person? I moved from room to room, and finally into the garage. Very little of it is life-sustaining. Some of it gives me pleasure. None of it is more important than the safety and security of my family. So I wondered, are those people in Foreclosure Alley the lucky ones? Will they now learn to live for living, not for consuming? Will this hardship make them stronger, bring them closer, or will the family fall apart? Will instinct take over allowing them to discover how to survive? What will I do when it happens to me?
I came back to my computer to write this, and started logging into all my accounts, suddenly realizing how my digital life reflects my physical life. I’m wondering now about digital burdens. I have at least a dozen personal emails I’ve not returned. Opening email is definitely a burden. I cleared out over 120 messages from my work email yesterday. I’m a member of so many social web sites, I can’t even remember them. I am usually pretty good at ignoring requests for things that don’t add value to my existing connections, but I know there are others who feel obligated to accept every friend request on every site.
If I had to walk away from the Web today, how would that impact my life? I would be glad to be rid of these tools and processes. I would be glad not to have to think about checking in and responding in time. However, I would desperately miss these friendships I treasure. I would miss the laughter and tears, discovery and shared frustration. The friendships I have made in this digital world, truly mean more to me than all the digital toys. So if I had to leave my home, I would take my family and forget the rest. But if I had to leave the Web, how would I take my friends? How would we find each other?
9 Responses to “Digital Burdens?”
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.
This has got to be one of the most significant blog posts I have read in a while. It’s not the idea of potentially losing friends from my social networks, it is the idea of not consuming any more. The idea of only having what you really need, and how this could be a liberating shift. If we want to make a difference to the size of our environmental footprint we need to only use what we need. No more!!! And I share this would be a liberating experience.
When it comes to the friendships, they can come with you on your phone or at an internet cafe… Only take what you need, no more…
Ohhhh, you’re making me misty.
In a sick and twisted reversal of what you’ve described here, I’ve wondered the opposite: If I stop blogging, commenting, and Twittering… if I fall off the planet or become unable to jump online – how long would it take others to even notice?
On a positive note, I think if we all had to leave the Web, we’d find each other here and there at a Redbox or Walmart. After all, isn’t that where everybody goes when they’re not online?
Jen – This is provocative. I read this this morning and came back to it. If I had to walk away from the Web today, I would be lonely. And that’s sad. Or maybe not. I’m not sure. I wouldn’t know as many people who share the same interests. That’s sad too. Like you, the material stuff I could walk away from easily if everyone in my little family was OK. I guess it’s the memories. My friends online would be like the family photos left behind.
Hey Darren, I reckon I know what a WalMart is, but what’s Redbox? Help! I’m strongly resisting an American centric reference here.
Sorry, Jennifer, about this aside on your blog…
Graham, you are so cool – sorry for my reference here because you are correct: Redboxes are currently only found in the US. I’m sure they will eventually make an attempt at global domination, but they are still relatively young.
Redbox (http://www.redbox.com/) is a very interesting concept wherein this company rents DVDs via little kiosks that have popped up everywhere (outside McDonalds, airports, and even some gas stations). According to their site, there are over 10,000 locations now. A part of the genius here is also the price. Where some of the larger movie rental stores charge $4-$5 ($7.76 Australian) to rent a DVD, Redbox only charges $1 for every day you keep the DVD (you may keep the DVD as long as you want).
I don’t hesitate to predict that both Walmarts and Redboxes will one day grace Australia. In fact, I see that Walmart has already made its way to Samoa, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands.
Graham, I didn’t know what it was either, so I’m glad you asked
And I don’t go to Walmart.
Fortunately, you wouldn’t be missing anything. Your “”digital”"friends would still be there, you’d need to have some internet connection somewhere else (a cellphone, another computer, you name it). That’s the advantage of internet: anywhere, anytime. And yet, if you couldn’t do that…we still have MAIL, which is the way thousands of people have kept in touch over the centuries…
Fortunately, as long as we’re alive we’ll always find ways to communicate with each other.
On other hand, I agree with you, we might be collecting too much of digital trivia. Maybe the Diogenes syndrome gone digital?
Thanks for such a great a blog,
A reader from Valencia, Spain,
Elena.
I meant “such a great blog”, but there’s no way to edit…Now, this is embarrassment gone digital… 2.
[...] materialism and the difference between buying for buying’s sake vs buying what we need. Jen Jones got me thinking about the “stuff” in our homes a while back. And another blog post [...]