Love Letter 32: That Thing We Call "Internet"
(you know the one!)
Dear Readers and Friends,
Happy International Internet Day!
How are you today? I hope this love letter finds you well, with much more stable weather than we've been having.
We've had severe weather here for a while now with gale-force winds (we’re currently on Day 31 of continuous wind). We’re out in the sticks near open sea, so it can get really rough out here and internet connectivity is not stable. Those dreaded wheelies have become my loyal companions! This is something that today's digital world doesn't take kindly to, especially when you want to upload to Substack, the social media, or beam your songs to your sound engineer and you can't even contact them to explain the delays, because… you know... we all communicate online, now.
When that happens, my HSP mind begins its own wheelies. To stop everything from spinning, I decide to go and do something else, like check my e-mails. Don't laugh, but I have 1843 unread e-mails screaming for my attention, creating a cycle of overwhelm and indecisiveness.
I just remembered - e-mail requires internet, too!
OK, never mind. I should take a break, anyway. I'll go and call my friend on Skype.
Pffft. Needs internet as well.
OK, I'll do some fitness, then. I took out a 6-month subscription to this yoga fitness app. I might as well keep going.
.Oh.
OK... I need to do my grocery shopping order, at least let's get that out of the way.
Ggggggg! It's an E-SHOP!! I'd check when the buses leave, but the timetable is only on their website! 😑
OK... what else is left?...
I have some audiobook credits left. It's time I bought a new audiobook.
Won't download.
🙉
I'm not one for giving up easily, so I thought of what else I could do.
Yeeeah! My Mum bought me a learn-how-to-play-guitar course on Udemy! I forgot about that!
🥺 Needs internet connection! 🥺 And I don't have a guitar amp, anymore. I've been meaning to order a little practice amp for a while, now.
Can't access “ghoughle”! 😭
Never mind. It's almost time for my music lessons, anyway. Earlier this year I joined a brilliant online music school that I looove! I'll just go on there and continue with my learning.
ASFDGDFKSKDHFGFDJKDHDKFJJJJJJJJJJJJ!! 🤪
It's lovely and quiet without the internet... honestly, it is. But this. can't. be. normal.
!!
To be honest, I've never been a massive fan of the internet or the mobile phone; not so much because I’m so retro, but because I see too many people veg out in front of it and lose touch with the outside world. (Eventually many lose touch with their inner world because of it, too, but that's perhaps a topic for a future Love Letter!).
Believe it or not, even I became a victim of internet vegetation some years back, until my addiction to SMS texting was pointed out to me. Luckily, I stopped straight away. But then it started happening to me! My marriage suffered because of it. People I spoke to at parties didn't even realise I was talking to them, because they were mindlessly scrolling through their socials, or kept checking their messages on "Wassuuuup”. I watched couples at restaurants looking more at their mobile phones than into each other’s eyes. I even photographed someone walking their dog because they kept walking, their face buried in their phone, completely oblivious to the fact that their dog had stopped, leg up in the air, trying to wee and hold its balance on one leg! For privacy reasons, I won’t post that photo here, but you can imagine the sight!
Then there are those dreaded EMFs. Are you sensitive to those, too?
For me personally, the sum of negatives has well exceeded the sum of positives when it comes to the internet.
And yet, I am fully aware of how much the internet has to offer. Both my music and my writing hugely depend on the internet, as does most communication with my friends and family all over the globe. Being able to create digital images and not have to wait until the film develops, is another big plus for us creators.
Perhaps you can relate only too well and are also torn between loving and loathing our dependence on the internet. How do you handle it? Have you grown used to it, now, or do you find yourself spending a chunk of your life cursing the day of its invention?
😤💻
I think as long as we use the internet safely, responsibly and constructively, it can become our (virtual) best friend. Just not at the expense of everything (or everyone) else.
And so I celebrate International Internet Day with you, today.
Love and Decibels,
xx Jo xx
I’m with you. I have some activities that don’t require internet access. Although, as I think about them - darn! They are internet dependent at some point. Stained glass - I use it to order supplies and listen to podcasts while I work. Learning drums - I’m following an online course. Reading - I use a Kindle and need to download books using - argh- the internet. We really are dependent upon a decent WiFi connection.