No Electricity

I’m ready to go back to the dark ages and eliminate electricity (E). My reason for this is the busyness of our lives. We would be so much less busy if we had none. After talking with several other people this week, bemoaning the constant “to do” list, I was thinking about what we could eliminate to be less frantic. The primary factors in many of our hectic lives are available because of E, because without E we could not build and maintain them:

1. Cell phones and phones in general
2. Email via Computers
3. Television with hundreds of stations
3. Automobiles enabling us to go places faster
4. FedEx/Mail delivery to get things to people faster

With the above modes, it is so much easier to create expectations that things will happen faster. And fast is the word that equals busy. Because something CAN happen fast, people expect that it will, regardless of other priorities.

Think back to early days with no electricity. To invite someone over or to ask someone to help you with a task, you’d have to physically go to their home or send a messenger and travel via foot, horseback or other four-footed creature. No cell phone call, email or text message. No planes, trains or automobiles associated with FedEx or US Postal Service Express mail.

Same goes for buying something. The printed word was much more valuable, with beautifully written pages with excellent word choices or grammar, now it’s acronyms in text messages and speedily written emails. Now you can turn on the TV and see advertisements for every type of product out there, from prescription drugs to fast food. Go online to buy it, and it can be delivered via swift or unhurried delivery.

Of course, I’m getting this message out via the www which is plugged into electricity and cyberspace, but that’s just the way it is. I think I’ll turn off my computer, my lights, and go to bed. Should I unplug my alarm clock too?