Does Addiction just have to be to drugs, booze, and eating?
A thought provoking question.
What are we running from with these addictions? What are they good for?
Do they keep us from dealing with the pain and emptiness of life? And if that is true and addiction keeps the pain away, isn't the equal and opposite reaction true? Don't they also keep us from experiencing joy?
It is my observation that the art of communicating, the staying close to others, the actual learning about other people, and having real relationships with others is starting to crumble - the art of communication is dying.
One of my favorite shows is 7th Heaven. It was a couple of Sunday's ago. Eric's heart is bad now and he supposedly has a year to live. He blacked out and had a near death experience. The show was a cross between "The 5 People You Meet In Heaven" and "It's A Wonderful Life."
As the story unfolds it was too early for Eric to be in Heaven/dead so he was going to be sent back home - with gifts from Heaven. He got an eraser for Mary to help her forgive her tiny sins that were getting in the way of forgiving herself , courage for Lucy to try to have another child and go on living, and so forth. I would love that eraser wouldn't you?
He talked about getting a computer for Simon and was told that the " Internet sucks the life out of time". Think for a minute - sucks the life out of time....
It's interesting that my feelings are starting to be noted on television. In 2006, we are all on the Internet, including myself. I could live without it if I had to, but it would be extremely hard. People work at home on the Internet. We shop on the Internet. My daughter dates via the Internet. We go to school on the Internet. We pay our bills and have our check direct deposited. We email and write letters. We send forwards to say a quick hello...
...but too much time on the computers can take away from personal relationships. I mean there is just so much time in a day. What about feelings and senses - can a computer smell a rose, hear a bird chirp, or touch someone? Okay granted, sometimes it is a way to communicate with others when you have no other media - and it can actually help relating to someone. There's a lot of good on the Internet, but when it becomes the number one thing in our lives, is something else wrong in our lives.
How much is enough time on the Internet and could you give up the Internet or are you addicted?
What about cell phones - as I walk thought the grocery store and see people talking, I used to think they were saying hello to me, they weren't, they were talking on their blue tooth to someone else! No eye contact to me at all. Communicating to someone on the phone yet missing the real person in the flesh. In some states you can't even be on the cell phone while you're driving because you can't pay attention to the road!
What will the communication be like in the future? We're always in such a hurry- we don't stop and smell the roses anymore.
Television has long been thought to create couch potatoes and non-relating children. Lessons in school are taught in the format of a 30 minute sitcom! Try to have a talk with your child.
All I'm saying is that I think the key to life in anything is moderation. A little bit of everything. Of course that is for everything we do. Do I do it, do I have the answers? NO! We are in the age of electronics. I think just like food (which I have trouble with), alcohol, medical drugs, and now electronics all serve us well and in moderation - are wonderful - but over used.....
Are these addictions a way to avoid the pain of life? Of a bad relationship? Do addictions fill a void for us?
It is my observation that the art of communicating, the staying close to others, the actual learning about other people, and having real relationships with others is starting to crumble - the art of communication is dying.
One of my favorite shows is 7th Heaven. It was a couple of Sunday's ago. Eric's heart is bad now and he supposedly has a year to live. He blacked out and had a near death experience. The show was a cross between "The 5 People You Meet In Heaven" and "It's A Wonderful Life."
As the story unfolds it was too early for Eric to be in Heaven/dead so he was going to be sent back home - with gifts from Heaven. He got an eraser for Mary to help her forgive her tiny sins that were getting in the way of forgiving herself , courage for Lucy to try to have another child and go on living, and so forth. I would love that eraser wouldn't you?
He talked about getting a computer for Simon and was told that the " Internet sucks the life out of time". Think for a minute - sucks the life out of time....
It's interesting that my feelings are starting to be noted on television. In 2006, we are all on the Internet, including myself. I could live without it if I had to, but it would be extremely hard. People work at home on the Internet. We shop on the Internet. My daughter dates via the Internet. We go to school on the Internet. We pay our bills and have our check direct deposited. We email and write letters. We send forwards to say a quick hello...
...but too much time on the computers can take away from personal relationships. I mean there is just so much time in a day. What about feelings and senses - can a computer smell a rose, hear a bird chirp, or touch someone? Okay granted, sometimes it is a way to communicate with others when you have no other media - and it can actually help relating to someone. There's a lot of good on the Internet, but when it becomes the number one thing in our lives, is something else wrong in our lives.
How much is enough time on the Internet and could you give up the Internet or are you addicted?
What about cell phones - as I walk thought the grocery store and see people talking, I used to think they were saying hello to me, they weren't, they were talking on their blue tooth to someone else! No eye contact to me at all. Communicating to someone on the phone yet missing the real person in the flesh. In some states you can't even be on the cell phone while you're driving because you can't pay attention to the road!
What will the communication be like in the future? We're always in such a hurry- we don't stop and smell the roses anymore.
Television has long been thought to create couch potatoes and non-relating children. Lessons in school are taught in the format of a 30 minute sitcom! Try to have a talk with your child.
All I'm saying is that I think the key to life in anything is moderation. A little bit of everything. Of course that is for everything we do. Do I do it, do I have the answers? NO! We are in the age of electronics. I think just like food (which I have trouble with), alcohol, medical drugs, and now electronics all serve us well and in moderation - are wonderful - but over used.....
Are these addictions a way to avoid the pain of life? Of a bad relationship? Do addictions fill a void for us?
Why do we have voids in life? Why don't we chose to fill our voids better? Myself included....
Thinking as always,
Chatty
No comments:
Post a Comment