We are here to awaken from our illusion of separateness. –Thich Nhat Hanh
When I was about 8 years old I exclaimed to my mother that we are all truly alone because our souls are separate and that we can not know how each of us feels inside. I was becoming aware of existential loneliness.
It seems nowadays I experience the opposite. How can I possibly feel separate when I open my Inbox each morning to a tsunami of mail.
There are multiple notifications from WordPress and Facebook. Pleas and proclamations from interest groups asking me to sign petitions and donate or warnings about the latest pending environmental disaster, GMOs, and pesticides killing us and the bees. I am concerned about all these issues but I am starting to get “compassion overload.”
I get messages from the library about books being due or coming in and e-lists of book recommendations. I get articles, blurbs, blogs and messages about Art, Ageing, Boomers, adult education and Job Search results.
How can I possibly have illusions of being separate with my Inbox so full?
It takes a good part of my time to keep the incoming volume of email under control. I think I am going to have to unsubscribe to a lot of this stuff. I really don’t want to have it taking up so much of my time.
But does all this internet interconnectedness really make me feel less separate?
I am aware of my connection with others when I read something that resonates or get a thoughtful or supportive comment on my posts. A ping back and re-blog is encouraging. 🙂
But I have to sort through an awful lot of stuff, separating the chaff, to get those precious grains of wisdom, inspiration, encouragement and real connection.
Notes Tied On The Sagebrush 
20K in your inbox? Yikes!
I’ve started prioritizing my blogs that I follow. Some people post a lot (yeah, like me the past few days, what’s that about?) and I like to actually read what people post and make comments from time to time. And yes, there are only so many hours in the day.
I get the Thich Nhat Hanh quote. Our souls, and everything animate, sentient and inanimate are all part of a great soup (imho and according to Eastern Philosophy). I know that on one level. On another level? The level that has me living like an agoraphobic (when I’m not)? The level that has me not speaking to anything other than an aging cat for days or weeks? EEEEEK! (So I’ll cling to the Internet overload so I don’t go complete stark raving.)
Good post. We all have to find our equilibrium, our homeostasis, our happy medium place.
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No not 20 K thank God. I would go nuts then. It was an image I found for the post 🙂 Yes, I took the quote and did a bit of a tangent off of it. Yes we can make some real connections on the internet but on the other hand there is the price we pay when we spend so much time there of not living our lives outside of it.
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Your picture of the tiny bear with the balloon was poignant for me–maybe because I had just read your post about “The Swing,” so I had this mental image of you as a very small child. The bear seems so tiny against the blankness of the space. . . .
Now, as you point out, you have too many connections! I get so many emails from this one group that I sometimes miss their important communications. Email is a curse and a blessing.
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Thanks Sandi. Yes a lot of email, how our world has changed since I was that little girl.
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I loved the introspective way you started, the quote, the ted bear… and all of a sudden you made me laugh. It is so all-of-us getting connections’ exhaustion, which seems to never end.
I feel terribly sorry when I don’t have time to check new followers, read posts of followers, reply to comments, etc. It’s nice and it’s terrible, isn’t it? Blogging201 is a tad less demanding the Blogging101 though, as so far, many things had already been addressed before. Are you following it?
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Thanks 🙂 Yes it is pretty tough to read all the posts. I am following Blogging 201 but pondering it without posting what I am thinking. And I have not had time to think a lot about the recommendations they give as yet. In 201 it said one goal could be checking posts once per week for an hour. I am not sure that would be enough time to read and comment. I want to decide just how much time I am going to devote to it because I need time for other parts of my life and my own writing.
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Very true. I haven’t had more than one hour until today when i finally dedicate some hours to it.
It has been difficult to keep the same pace; just you said, I needed time to do other important things in my life.
And i havent yet found time to write this week.
Let’s keep like that as it is healthier.
Have a nice rest of your day. I’m preparing to end mine! 😉
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