3.02.2009

dome/sun/sky pt two

i stretched the last few scraps of the weekend into the wee hours of the morning
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sleep was in deficit this morning when my alarm first went off
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snooze was alluring
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i was late-ish running out the door this morning.

me missing the fact that the sun was just lovely on my dome outside my front window.

so i snapped a photo at 7:57am to send to my sun/sky friends.

.................................................


i have more thoughts on this, but i have become increasingly aware of the direct influence other people have on how i participate in the space around me.

for instance, just this morning i received a letter from sahra, one of the loyal 10:15ers and a regular contributor to the sky series. she mentioned how she is coming to love the dome outside my window, nodding to my most recent post. that little line of email text, read sleepily in the moments after turning off my alarm the final time made me pause this morning not only to see what the dome looked like, but to also capture and send it along.

suddenly i observe+create+share in a space that is, on an ordinary day, solely devoted to the utilitarian purpose of getting me awake and presentable enough in order to head to work. the only beauty that is breathed into this space is in my wardrobe choice {and only if i'm feeling up to effort of anything more than purely comfy}.

this is a nice way to feel alive.

i was having a conversation this weekend with a woman i met at a saturday morning clothing/book exchange. we spoke on ethics, technology and the dehumanization that is happening due to the decrease of the former and the increase of the latter. it's a topic that hits me somewhere deep in the gut. a feeling of powerlessness and terror that books will go the way of negative film or fahrenheit 451 and that everyone will express themselves in 140 character snippets {i joined twitter on friday and will be deleting my account later today}.

i get overwhelmed.

and if i were the nervous type i would start to hyperventilate.

until.

i remember what technology allows us to do. what life it goes give us for those that choose to accept it. how a year and a half ago i wasn't taking photographs left and right and instantly emailing them to three people around the whole whom i have never met and in turn receive them on a daily basis. and ten years ago, this wouldn't have been possible at all.

there has always been superficiality in this world {see any of jane austen's writings}. there has always been disconnect. and yes, technology makes the changes and the disconnect happen faster and to a greater and scarier degree. and it's makes us contend with the reality that objects no longer have an anologous relationship to the world but a purely symbolic one. these people i share images, vignettes, art, beauty and, most recently gchats, with i have never experienced in any kind of concrete way. not even a phone call. it's a relationship where all interaction is entirely via cyberspace.

but what i hold on to so tightly is how each email, each image, each story about their loved ones, their losses & their victories, and each quirky bit of character and spelled out laughter not only points to a living breathing person but also effects me significantly as a living, breathing person.

and that's where the humanity lies.
it's so full in these exchanges.
i take away from it what i will and it makes my life more colorful.
and that, no matter what technology we do or don't have burning on the horizon we will only find new ways of connecting to each other and making it real.

currently listening to: nantes - beirut

2 comments:

marcusbatey said...

Firstly- I guess this is my first comment on here. I felt like I was intruding before, I realise, through the way that you write, that I'm 'welcome' here :)

I didn't realise the dome was outside your window. What a view. I miss some of my old views, and look forward to new ones. Ones that appear the same yet you begin to learn to read them differently each day fascinate me.

And interesting that you're deleting your Twitter. Weirdly, I kinda hate technology. But like you said, the way in which we are connecting randomly through different mediums is amazing. I use Twitter, and even Facebook for work a lot, so ditching them could have an impact, but I'd like to... But I also guess it's like someone trying to be creative playing with different paints, a camera or two, maybe even some modern dance ;) I'm playing around with technology, seeing what works for me...

I'm happiest when I switch my Mac off. I'm imagining writing this to you on some scratchy old bit of paper with a ball point that has, over time, adjusted to only respond to my way of writing.

nathania tenwolde said...

marcus, thank you. what a lovely post. i think you're the first to cross the line and leave a substantial reply {though there have been many email and in person dialogues i have had in the past as a result of my posts}.

yes, i deleted twitter. it took me an extra day, but i realized the reason i started blogging was because the status updates on facebook weren't enough for me. i needed a venue to fill in more. i realized twitter would 100% be the frustration of that size limitation. i see that there can be some use of the tool, but at this point i am just overwhelmed. facebook on the otherhand drew me in with the seductive graces of scrabble and i have found other benefits {mainly photo sharing and most recently video sharing - i have you to thank for the latter}.

and yes, i can see how many would find there to be a certain freedom and grace with being limited to 140 characters and i by all means encourage medium exploration. even in the realm of technology.

maybe one day you'll send me a comment on a postcard or a scrap sheet of paper. i adore handwritten things. both giving and receiving.