Unfolding Life - One Moment at a Time

"A Swan's Pondering of Existence" - Photo by, Scott Frank -  Lake Eola Park, Orlando FL

 
     It's a great time to be walking around on this earth, friends! There's an infinite possibility of things for us to do, and everything is much easier to access because of things like cars, cell phones, the Internet, and computers. Ahhh the life! The labors of our ancestors can finally be appreciated as we live gloriously in our endlessly, less complicated lives! Because we live in the 'Information Age' and pretty much everyone has a cell phone smart phone, we virtually have everything we need at our fingertips. But with this newly devised device and others similar to it, a very concerning question comes to mind. Are they making our lives less meaningful?

     Allow me to present to you an example - from my own experience... 

     Not so long ago I was sitting on an outdoor patio with a friend at a swanky little coffee shop in Los Angeles. As we were holding our conversation at the table I reached into my pocket and grabbed my cell phone. I opened it up and began checking work emails. There was one I stumbled upon that was calling out a deadline that was very close to being reached - this in turn, made me fidgety, anxious. Seeing me break like I did, my friend carefully grabbed the phone out of my hand, turned it off and then she placed it on the table - face side down. She looked at me and said, "Stop. Just be in the moment. Enjoy it."

     While I can't argue that technology is such a fundamental part of our lifestyle, and I'm certainly a long-standing admirer of its convenience. There is absolutely ZERO doubt about it that it can be a very major distraction. There's an absolutely hilarious picture floating around in the endless abyss of the Internet where several people are walking on a sidewalk holding their phones and staring blankly into their screens. There's also a caption under it that reads, "The Zombie Apocalypse is here, it's just not what we expected." Sad but genius. If we're constantly looking down all the time, we're going to miss out on what's happening around us, life.

     Albert Einstein once said, "I fear the day technology will surpass our human interaction. The world will have a generation of idiots." It's here, it's everywhere, and it's not just limited to the smart phones. Video games, portable tablet devices, and other likes of that nature. I once sat at a dinner table with a half a dozen people and everybody except for two of us were on their cell phones for pretty much the entire ordeal. Not much in the way of interesting conversation that evening.

     I catch myself thinking every once in awhile about why it is that electronics are SO distracting, and there are two reasons.

1. Texting
2. Social Networking
    
     Another very interesting thought is this, when our younger generations today are in their elderly stages years from now, will they still be tweeting? That could be interesting... tweets that read, "5 am LOL. Time for meds and Justin Bieber." Man, I really hope 80-year olds listen to Justin Bieber someday. Getting back on track here...texting, and social media. Let me write that again. TEXTING, and SOCIAL MEDIA. How many times have you taken your device out to only open up Facebook to check to see if you have any messages or responses to your 'status update'? I fall into this category, especially when I have down time. But thanks to a friend who cares enough about what's going in her surroundings, I've been given a new perspective that's not only valuable to myself, but could likewise be just as valuable to you.

     I'll leave you with just one last quote, and perhaps the most important of its kind on this subject matter. The late Charles Darwin once said, "A man who dares to waste one hour of time has not discovered the value of life."
 
     Summer is fast approaching for many of us, and my challenge for you is this: leave the device behind and distinguish yourself from your peers. Be in the moment, learn from it, digest it, and let it resonate with you for the rest of your lives. One day you'll look back and be grateful that you weren't spending it face-planted on the screen of your smart device. You'll be happier and much better off for it. Life has always consistently been made up of one interesting moment after another, and it always will be.

The Beautiful Thing about Sand...

     

"Little Man, Big Waves" Photo by, Kylene Frank - Newport Beach, CA -2012

     I would imagine that most of us are quite familiar with sand. Most people have probably seen a body of water that's surrounded by it. Maybe you live in the desert - where it's never in short supply. Perhaps you've taken walks over dunes with a loved one. The simple truth is that our planet is made up of 70% water, so as you could imagine, sand just naturally comes with the territory. When you really think about sand - specifically it's size (which ranges anywhere from .004 mm-64 mm - depending on the particle) it's downright inspiring to think about the sheer volume of a single beach and just how many individual sand particles come together to form that warm, soft cushion that our feet just love to hug on a breezy summer day in mid-July. 

     It's at this point you may be asking yourself, "Why is this strange dude so infatuated with the thought of sand? It's SAND! Who cares!" And to a certain degree, you'd be right. I mean if it's just sand than what's the point of discussing it? But, just for the fun of it, let's dig a little deeper into it (Pun intended).

     Sand has many uses, and not just those on the beach. For example, if sand weren't so available to us we wouldn't have clean water, agriculturally diverse crops such as watermelon (which thrives in sandy soils, and without which we wouldn't be able to enjoy during our favorite summer activities - like ridding our farmer's tans on the beach). We wouldn't have bricks to make that new shabby chic apartment complex in our bustling cities, situated next to that trendy coffee shop (which is also made out of brick). There would be no glass to make those big bay windows in that lovely house that allows you to catch a glimpse of the sunrise outside in that beautiful world of ours. The folks in the lower continental U.S wouldn't be able to use bags of it to protect themselves against rising tides that create flooding. And perhaps the most important, there would be no more knights in shining armor, no more motes to cross, because our children wouldn't have the ability to create sandcastles (and some adults).

     So you see, sand has it's many uses. Some much more important than just being a simple amenity to our feet. And just as sand is as individual as we are, I believe there's an important lesson to be learned here from it. If something that is not much bigger than the period I use to end this statement can be joined collectively, with others of it's kind to produce something so much more extraordinary than it is by itself, think about what people have, can, and will do as similar creatures on this earth. 

     Human beings have accomplished so much, we've set aside our own opinions in order to achieve great things that we otherwise couldn't have done without coming together. There is absolutely strength in numbers. Sand is proof. We've come together to beat great odds that were stacked against us. We've made great discoveries to improve life, and we're better for it. We've survived for such a long time, not because we worked alone, but because we came together and worked hard to achieve something much bigger than all of us. You see, sand is motivated, just like you and I. It wants to be part of something bigger, whether it's being a part of the next great barrier reef, or in some bag of soil to aid in the growth of some fruit or vegetable that you or I might enjoy. 

     I urge all of you (myself included) to be more like sand, because together we are so much stronger and better than just being an individual. Be a grain of sand, great as you are, and even better together.