I finally broke down and got one when I started a business in 1999 and I was amazed and impressed with how user friendly it was. I became an immediate fan of email and felt the burgeoning excitement of having discovered something new; a new toy, something fun!. Creating a website was no easy feat, however, and I spent vast funds having one designed for me. It seemed so complex, so complicated, so utterly beyond anything I could understand with its html language and coding and hosting and domain names and servers. The graphic designer might as well have been speaking Greek to me.
But today, with a rapid google search, I can design my own website, set up a blog, access any information or image I may seek, communicate internationally in seconds, reach an audience of any kind, find like kind people to "chat" with, store my pictures, create a virtual reality, play games, read books. I can go anywhere and learn anything. The only thing that limits me is my imagination, and my physical ability to sit in front of the screen.
But it's easy to resent our computers, to get frustrated with them for moving too slowly, needing to be re-booted, having quirks. We even blame them for the way our neck and shoulders hurt from sitting in front of them for too long with poor posture. How bold of us! All this incredible access to the world at our fingertips and we feel entitled to gripe. Well, not me, and not today. I am no longer resistant. I am curious and creative and endlessly entertained... as long as I do not abuse my screen time by becoming addictive; as long as I balance the computer with walks outside and meals with friends and meditation and enough sleep and all of the facets of self care. If I enjoy it in balance, my computer is a great blessing, a good friend, and a launching pad for all of my dreams.
Today I will not take my computer for granted. I will be amazed with all that it can do, and grateful for the ways it expands my life.
