ARE WE TECHNO-FOOLS?

It's a lazy Sunday morning, I just want to lie in bed and sleep the day away, having slept at 2 AM playing (yes, PLAY!) with a layout I was experimenting with. But my computer is calling to me and hey I'm excited to play some more. Golly, sometimes I wonder and marvel at how our lives were so much more simple then, a lot more uncluttered. I love my computer and the internet and technology has opened up so much knowledge and information for anyone that chooses to use it as such but sometimes I can't help but wonder about the quality of life we lead nowadays. A lot of us have gadgets as appendages to our body, not literally connected, but somehow it feels that way because we have them with us all the time. Take for instance, my laptop, ever since I got my new MacBook last July I would be able to count the days on my ten fingers when it was not sitting on my lap. Given that my work puts me in front of the computer almost 8-10 hours a day, add to that the time I spend browsing blogs, ebay, the engaging Facebook, fashion sites and now scrapbooking sites and blogs..not to mention the actual process of creating layouts and trying to learn as you make them, PHEW! It's a wonder there never seems to be any time left at all.

Not only that, a lot of us never leave home without out digital cameras, our cellphones, our iPods and what have you. At home we have the TV constantly blaring, the kids with their eyes glued to the DS Lite or PSP, Playstation, X-Box or whatever tech toy we use. These seemingly harmless, must-haves in our lives have set the tone in our lives, not that these stuff aren't great but I somehow miss the days when playing meant going out into the garden or the roaming the village with your siblings, cousins, friends. Got a wooden stick or twig? We could play a very interesting game with it. Rubberbands and paper? Yeah, we loved that..boys versus girls in a mini battle of who can hit the other more with our paper pellets. We ran around more, fell down even more often, scraped our knees, our elbows...we tumbled and jumped and climbed trees and hung upside down..went on made-up adventures, explored..we were out of the house more often and we never complained we were "bored". That is the kind of childhood I would love my kids to have, but times have changed, we just can't let our kids roam the streets anymore unacompanied by an adult, there is this fear all the time that they be exposed to some unwanted element.

We fear so many things nowadays..don't eat that its not healthy, don't do this you'll break your bones, don't this and that because... All these fears we have come from the glut of information we see, hear and read about, we are a more informed society because of technology. It really is up to us how we use it. Convenient, yes. Amazing, definitely! But we must not be slaves to it, and I know it is so easy to say and sometimes so hard to do, but do it we must if we want our lives to be enriched by something that is also palpable and not experienced vicariously through others. Yes, I am guilty of being a slave to technology and gadgets and would love to be outdoors more often with my kids...so pinch me if you see me sitting with my laptop for too long :) I promise to be good.

P.S.
Here are 2 layouts I created yesterday. The first layout was made for my bestfriend who just gave birth last October 10 to a beautiful baby boy - I'm the Godmother, woohooo! More than anything, I know what she's been through and I just want her to know that one day we will just "laugh" at how we went through all these things, I promise you!



The second layout was what I stayed up till 2 AM doing. I wanted to capture the fun my kids and their cousin were having in a very grungy, boy lay-out, I hope I was able to convey that feeling.



I'm shutting my computer down and taking my own advice. Have a great Sunday!