I've always had a rather independent nature. Perhaps it's because I grew up in the wild and carefree rural area of South Dakota, where you couldn't see your friends for the whole three months of summer vacation. It caused me to love reading books, dreaming romantic dreams and having an adventurous sense of imagination. I could spend what felt like hours lying on my back and watching the big, open sky. To this day, I like big, wide open spaces, nature and being alone. I dislike city traffic, lots of loud noises and big crowds of people. This from a girl who actually lived in dowtown Chicago for four years and two years in Tokyo. Let me just say, people, that took me WAY out of my comfort zone! Let's just say, I have learned to adapt to bigger city life, but the old adage, "You can take the girl out of the country, but you can't take the country out of the girl," still is pretty much the truth.
But, I have to admit that some of the changes that have come about since those earlier days have definitely brought about many modern conveniences. However, sometimes, I don't think that the conveniences always necessarily outweight the costs. That's why I'm choosing to be "choosy" about my techonology choices. Let's just say, "I don't want to be weighed down by technology." I love blogs and FB, as much as anybody. I've always liked writing, and now I have a free avenue to do that by blogging, and who cares if anyone really reads or likes it, or not?! But, there is that independent, carefree nature in me that says, "I want to be different!" Honestly, people, I miss the simpler days! I don't want to be one of "those people" who walk around with their eyes glued to their smart phone screen. I want to smile at people and notice the color of their eyes. I don't want to miss out on real life at the expense of all-consuming technology overload.
It might surprise you that I was incredibly shy when I was young, since I now work as a church receptionist. Well, it's not that I'm entirely shy. I'm just a little more on the introverted side. So, my job is perfect. I enjoy talking to people, but just one-on-one and one-at-a-time. I'd rather have a nice, friendly conversation with one person, than be busy texting and chatting with multiple people in a crowded and noisy room. I really do like "REAL" phones and talking with REAL people. And, yes, I mean old-fashioned landline phones. That's because I know who I am talking with and where that person I'm talking to is. I can really picture him/her, in their own, nice, cozy and real home, feeling comfortable and at home.
Can you believe that I actually do still use paper maps, paper calendars, a paper address book and a paper planner to write appointments down in my own handwriting? And I really do LIKE my handwriting! Even more incredible is this....I do know how to spell! Thus, I have NEVER chosen to use Spell Check when typing on a computer. I'm almost annoyed when computers autmomatically try to do spell checks when I'm writing. Because I've always been a good speller, it was a promise that I made to myself when Spell Check first became available...I said to myself, "Chandra, you're a darn good speller and you're not going to lose your brain! Don't you dare ever learn to rely on a machine to do what your brain can do!" Now, I have not used that reasoning when it came to calculators, because calculations were NOT my strong point. But, I'm also a fairly darn smart navigator and map reader. So, this is another area of rebellion for me. When we first moved to Denver, I was a little intimidated and thought, "Perhaps I should bend to the temptation to get a GPS?" But, that stubborn part of me said, "No way! You're smart! You've always been able to read a map and use your own brain to find your way around before. Why should it stop now?" So, two and a half years later, I'm doing just fine learning the streets of northwest Denver without a GPS. Granted, I do take advantage of checking google maps on the internet, before I head out and sometimes even print their directions. Of course, sometimes I don't like the directions they give me and I decide to rebel, again, and go my own independent way. Because, I like to make my own choices!
I've never liked following the crowd and I've just decided that I'm not going to start now. I choose which types of technology I like and want to use and how much I want to use them. Naturally, I must use some new things, especially on my job. However, in my personal life, I'm still choosing not to succumb to the temptation to join the "smart phone" crowd. My "crowd" is getting smaller and smaller and includes mostly those with salt-and-pepper colored to gray colored haired folks. But, I'm determined that I won't let that deter me. I'm going to try to remain smarter than my phone for as long as I can. In fact, I heard that older folks have actually tested higher in their ability to retain information. For, they actually grew up memorizing peoples' phone numbers and addresses, rather than relying on a smart phone to save them all for them. So, while, I say the main reason I don't get a smart phone and do the whole "texting" thing is for economic reasons, it's really deeper than that. I don't want to type a "stupid" text when I could actually write out a well-thought out letter with words that I actually know how to spell. Or I could actually call a person on a phone that doesn't lose the other person by passing under a bridge and actually hear the sound of his or her voice.
I know that some people tease me about becoming "old-fashioned" or "archaic". And now that I've entered my forties, I realize that I'm aging as I've had to get bifocals for the first time ever. But, no matter what my age, I want to do my best to keep my young, independent, carefree nature. I want to be free to be me and to keep exercising my brain, rather than letting machines do things that I could do for myself. So, if that sounds silly to some, "So be it!" I hope you don't miss it when I smile at you, because you have your face glued to a digital screen. I'd rather be holding someone's hand than hurting my thumb by overusing it on my smart phone. And I'd rather be staring at the blue sky than at a blue ray disk movie. So, go ahead and make fun of me! This is a free country and I'm going to choose just how much of this techonology I want to live with. It's not going to control this girl anymore than I can help it!
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