I was struck by a moment this afternoon.
Here am I checking email, facebook and working away on my laptop screen and large monitor at the same time. There is Liz in the kitchen eyes glued to her laptop, sorting out our large library of photos. There is Joel, perfecting tricks on his latest XBox favourite: Tony Hawk's Project 8.
And then there is Ollie. He has a cardboard poster tube, and he's balancing it, and shooting a small soft yellow ball down it, and giggling, and shouting down it. Guess what .. right now .. he is having the most fun out of any of us in the household.
My last blog post (such a long time ago!) spoke about one negative result of technology: busy-ness. This family scene helped me recognize another: joy in simplicity. As you know, I am certainly not on a mission to stop us all using technology, I love what it gives us, and am constantly in awe of the connection I can have with the world through its use (now as I blog for example!). I love the learning, the fun, the creativity, the efficiency, the wonder, the ridiculous amount of things I can do with my iPod touch. I've been *enjoying* using computers ever since they first emerged from laboratories. However, let us not forget the simple stuff, and the fun we can have away from the technology. We have a phrase in our household: "screen time". We often challenge each other to find good activities that do not involve a screen, and I think we're pretty good at it e.g. remember this from Oct 2006.
I hope and pray that we all hold on to the simple things in life that are enjoyable. I don't know what the metaphorical "tube and ball" is in your life, but let me encourage you this weekend to unplug for a while, and find something truly enjoyable that involves no technology at all.
.. and no .. there is NOT an app for that.
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