Claire's walkabout

I have spent a lot of time lately thinking about what purpose technology serves in my life. It is clear at the moment that I am tied to it in a way I don't like. I read blogs of people I don't really care about, I am not totally sure about Facebook, and I am becoming increasingly dependent on information from the internet. However, is being plugged in a necessity these days? I am one of the holdouts on owning a cell phone. I don't have one for personal reasons, like, I am too cheap, no one calls my land line, and I am not totally convinced that they don't cause disruption in brain waves. Call me crazy. Not having a cell phone has never been an issue for me until the texting phenomenon hit North America. In 2005, I used my cousin's cell to keep in touch with her via text while travelling in Scotland on my own. I didn't really see the point of it then, so when it came here, I was not interested. However, many of my friends use it as their main communication with each other. There are multiple texts back and forth to each other all day. When I pointed out to my mom that I never heard from a good friend anymore and I was sure the reason was because I wasn't "easy" to talk to, she pointed out that I never talked to this person everyday anyways, so why would we need to text each other constantly? No, I don't need to talk to my friends on a daily basis, but I do feel like I'm missing out on a conversation that is happening in space. When I happened to talk to this person on the phone the other day, they failed to tell me about something big coming up next month for their family, something I knew about through my mom already. They also told me a life-changing, big piece of news, something they've known for quite some time, for the first time. I have to wonder if I would have know about these things if I was "textable".
I have also realized that the majority of blogs out there (not the ones of my friends, thank goodness!) make me feel bad about my life. All of a sudden my family isn't fun enough, my house isn't clean enough, my clothes not stylish enough, my life not exciting enough. I know this is all distortion of reality, but it doesn't stop me from feeling inadequate. Which is why I wonder why I care in the first place. What is it about looking into someone else's life that is so fascinating, but so depressing too? I know that there are connections that can be made, support that can be given, but there is so much comparison of one another too, that I think in women especially is so self-destructive. I often think that if I took all the time that I spent looking at other people's lives and doing things with my own, I would have nothing to complain about. What are your feelings on these issues friends? Do you think I'm being left behind by not participating in the texting world? How do you choose to spend your time on the internet? Do you feel the same way I do?

This is my entry for Lindsay's first photo challenge. I think I might be late, but oh well, she stole my first idea. Since she created the challenge, I'll give it to her........this time........and because we often think the same things, it's no surprise we both thought of the towering trees of the West Coast.

Here's my photo of the Pacific Ocean. I live on an island completely surrounded by it and it is a constant in my life. The ocean seems to match my moods and it always calms me down. We have some of the most beautiful beaches in the world here on our island. I'll post a few pictures actually, to demonstrate. Whenever I feel overwhelmed, I look out to sea and feel comforted that there are always things that are bigger than us, that are constants, and the Earth will heal itself with her oceans long after we leave. My grandfather had a burial at sea, and I can't think of a better place to be laid to rest.

Ry and I took that train up island this weekend to visit his parents. He took me up the local ski mountain. There's no snow there right now, but the fall colours are so amazing!