Free Your Mind!
Happy Passover, everyone!
This is the holiday of freedom, so I'm contemplating what is it in my life that I need to free myself from. The quick and straight answer is probably - internet and my iPhone. The deeper answer to that is probably - any insecurities that lead me to be so dependent on these technologies, as if I won't be able to survive without them. It's a constant struggle, for someone who is self employed and runs an online business, to balance between work and life (how can one even separate between the two?). My nearly 2 months of traveling (with little bit of home time in between), in which I had my iPhone break for a day, ran out of battery for my laptop for the duration of an entire flight, not to mention had very little internet access while in the many hours I spent on the plane (major modern life crisis, right? ;-) - taught me to get my act together and break my chains to these devices, and try to take a little time off this network. So that I can breathe real air, create real perfumes, and make eye contact with real people that are near and dear to me (especially when we just so happen to be in the same place at the same time - very rare for someone whose majority of the family and close friends live in another country), or even just passers by, including insects and birds (instead of checking if I got any new messages on the phone, which are doubtfully any more important that whatever it is that I'm missing out on when I'm glued to the screen). And no, I don't mean snapping photos of them while I notice them!
One thing I did do when away from the internet on flights etc. was a major spring cleaning in my computer files, and deleting many images I no longer need or serve any purpose. And while sifting through them, I came to the conclusion that there is hardly any need for me to take another single photograph of anything unless I'm taking on some major art project. I probably have enough images in my hardrive to illustrate SmellyBlog to the end of eternity. And as for product shots - I'm thankful to have my brother be in charge of that (delegation, oh, blessed delegation!). There are probably more meaningless images on the entire world's hardrives than anyone is ever going to look at... Which is really sad, considering how much time we spend taking them instead of living the moment.
I'm going to stop right now, before I begin being too preachy (oops... too late!). I'm just really hoping that my real life will be larger than my virtual life this year. I still enjoy writing this blog, and it gives me great satisfaction to interact with my customers (and family, and friends) with the curious channels of communication available to us with all the modern technologies. I'm just seeking a little bit more freedom, to eliminate the misery caused by dependence... Turning my laptop on Saturday prove to be an excellent choice that makes me excited to turn it on again on Sunday morning and begin my work week with new ideas and renewed energy. I'm not sure I am ready yet to do something similar with my iPhone, but I'm certainly getting there... It will free so much more space in my mental hardrive and also free my hands for a larger part of the day to accomplish things in the physical world. And somehow, this sounds almost spiritually compelling...