Day 9 of 365 - The Internet - Boon or Bane?

Currently there are over 300 emails in my inbox and the majority of them are not personal messages.  This happens to me because I subscribe to many different sites which send out newsletters or briefer posts on a frequency that ranges from daily to weekly.  Some are for fun, such as Merriam-Webster dictionary's word of the day, or the daily Buddha Doodle from artist Molly Hahn.  Many are things I've signed up for in relation to my health and vitality search. One is Green Med Info - the Science of Natural Healing, which reviews scientific articles in many areas of health and wellness.

The boon of the internet is that there is SO much on offer, but this can also become the bane of the internet.  You can probably have a similar experience in many different areas of interest.  In the health and wellness field in recent years there have been a plethora of summits.  These are events hosted by one or two individuals who interview several experts on the topic of choice.  You sign up for these and follow the calendar of events to listen to interviews of your choice.  I have learned a LOT from speakers on these events and it has often led me to investigate their personal websites, sign up for their newsletters or to get their books for more information.

However, one result of signing on to so many is that you are agreeing to receive ongoing emails from the host of the event or from any of the presenters that you have explored more later on your own.  Thus, I find myself scanning the titles of my inbox each day but not willing or able to sit and read them all at one or two sittings at the computer.  My current dilemma is that I've saved so many that look interesting to read later.  To do that I'll have to commit to several hours.  Some days I end up designating a lot of the day to just that.  Other times, when it seems overwhelming I end up deleting most of them, doing an inbox purge.

Periodically, maybe quarterly, I also force myself to make decisions to unsubscribe to pages.  This happens when I get to the point that sitting down at the computer starts to feel like drudgery.  What used to cause excitement and pleasure about absorbing new information becomes a drag.  I also have to stop myself from signing up for yet another interesting summit when I realize that I'm not going to get around to listening to any of the interviews.

The internet is a vast place, like having a huge library at your finger tips.  I am very grateful for all the resources available and all the authors and health practitioners willing to share information with us.  But nobody wants to spend all their time at the library or online.  We have our lives to live after all.  It's about finding a balance that works for you.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 53 of 365 - Christmas Decorating at Tortoise Pace

This past weekend the Facebook posts with photos of completed Christmas decorating began showing up.  Some people decorate every room of their common areas.  Some have up to three Christmas trees.  I admire those photos.  It's all very lovely and festive.  Those people are the hares in the race to Christmas.  I am the tortoise. I'm not judging.  People have their reasons for wanting to get it all done early.  That way they can enjoy gazing upon their holiday décor for several weeks.  Or, they may be entertaining with holiday parties or family get togethers on whatever date works for them. I love the holiday season, the lights, the decorations, the food, the general sense of magic in the air.  But this year I'm just having a little trouble getting the momentum going for decorating.  Before our first snow, which is now gone thanks to a few days of rain, I got excited and put up the balcony lights and garlands.  We have been e...
Read more

Day 86 of 365 - Year End Gratitude

Today I was out doing some of my usual weekend grocery and household shopping.  I noticed that the selection was more limited and that there were empty spaces and shelves.  Most of the holiday inventory that was added to aisles and end displays is disappearing, now at clearance prices.  Regular inventory shelves have not been fully restocked, probably due to some staff being on a vacation break. This made me realize how much we take for granted that everything we want will just 'be there' when we arrive at stores to shop.  It's part of our instant gratification culture here in North America, but it is certainly not at all typical in many other parts of the world.  We are so fortunate with all the choices we have, but we also just assume they will always be there. I felt grateful for the staff of the stores who are spending their shifts restocking the shelves for us.  I said a friendly hello to the produce manager at the grocery store, a man who goes out...
Read more

Day 13 of 365 - The Joy of Singing - Part 1

When I was growing up we had an old upright piano in our living room.  My mother had learned to play piano and organ as a young girl.  She continued to enjoy it as a past time during her years of homemaking and raising a family.  Often she would play from one of her songbooks and some of the children, usually the girls, would stand nearby singing and looking over her shoulder to read the lyrics. Those were fun times for me and I enjoyed singing melody lines and sometimes trying a harmony.  In elementary school I learned some basic sight reading of music and had some time in the school choir.  But, most of my singing happened at home or at church. I was raised as a Catholic and in my pre-teen and early teen years what were then known as folk choirs and now are better known as contemporary choirs came into vogue.  Our small town choir seemed to have limited access to that spiritual music genre and struggled by with a limited number of hymns/songs.  I...
Read more