Disconnect

After being offline and disconnected from the Internet for well over one week something has occurred to me … it hasn’t been that difficult for me to be “disconnected” from the “modern world” of computers and all of the other “devices of convenience” that we have. It is only through the various clever advertising campaigns that bombard our senses with the latest incarnation of “keeping up with the Jones’” that convinces us of our “need” to have the latest “development”.

We are taught that society, as we know it today, could not possibly attain anything of significance without the latest upgrade to this gadget, or this improved thing … but is it really true? Am I supposed to believe that my life will attain some level of unspeakable joy if I only have every new gadget that comes along, provided by the miraculous creations of human ingenuity? After being disconnected from everything more advanced than the remote control for the television, my very considered opinion is: I don’t think so (and, on top of that, I’m finding that it would be quite easy to be separated from television as well without trouble … as they say, 57 channels and nothing on … except it’s more like 200 channels – and nothing on).

For most of my life I have contented that I had been in the wrong century: I love to write with pen and ink, composing my music with a fountain pen on old-fashioned manuscript paper. Even my literary work begins with notebook and a fountain pen. For some reason, the thought of being “creative” on a computer just doesn’t feel right, and this past bit of time of disconnection with all things electronic would only seem to have proven that assertion: my soul belongs in a different time.

My initial intentions were not to spend this much time offline, but that’s how it turned out. The main thing that I discovered was that there seemed to be an increase in my desire to be creative that was directly proportional to the amount of time I’d spent away from anything electronic. Could it be that “electronica” had been draining my creativity of late? I don’t know about that, but I did have a minor case of pneumonia, so sitting up at a computer and doing anything with anything just seemed like the greatest challenge, it just wasn’t worth doing.

For whatever the cause, after about four or five days “computer free” my poetic mind was running amuck (in all the best ways), I was composing with a fluidity that is wonderful to experience, and writing (longhand) as though I was trying to finish my novel before the end of the week. Part of this, perhaps, is having an opportunity to “house sit” for my parents while they are away (thus the lack of Internet access) for the month: the change of location, while still in the city, is like a trip out of town for my creative sensibility, recharging my “creative batteries” as it were.

Whatever the cause, the remainder of October is going to be fairly sparse in regards to posts to this blog as I have some projects that must be completed at the end of the month. As much as possible I shall try to post updates, but brevity may be the rule until more time is available. Before ending this, there are a few things that I wanted to comment about that weren’t related to my absence … some things that are slightly more important.

So, does anyone want to be a Page in Congress?

It absolutely amazes me that the same party that ranted and raved about the state of the moral fibre of President Bill Clinton should now be finding it so difficult to decide how to handle a situation that far surpasses the scope of what the former president was involved with at anytime. Considering that the Republican-led Congress and Senate of Clinton’s day decided that impeachment proceedings were worth pursuing, it seems incongruous that they should find it at all difficult to decide how to handle the current situation that they find themselves in, one which did not involve sexual relations with someone of a consensual age.

Pride and hypocrisy prevent the Republicans from doing the right thing, which could prevent their ultimate political destruction by demonstrating that hypocrisy isn’t a prerequisite to being on “the right”. The “right” thing to do, in this case, is to be brutal in their house cleaning: everyone associated must be cleansed. The Speaker of the House must resign, having admitted that he knew of the communications since 2000. This is not sacred communication – it wasn’t a confessional communication (and even if it was, if you confess something to a priest, tough – there is nothing in the New Testament that says that anything confessed to another human should be treated as sacred communication).

That a sexual predator could be allowed to operate with impunity in the “centre of democracy” only demonstrates the imperfection of our system, and the fragility of life. The ultimate irony, of course, is that the “focus on the family” party, the Republicans who tout themselves as the party that represents the moral choice in the United States, has morphed itself into the party that represents depravity in the highest while they were vilifying the Democrats. At the same time, the “moral fibres” continue to shred as the lies about the fabricated war continue to be revealed, and the world learns that it is more dangerous thanks to the Iraqi war rather than if the United States hadn’t invaded.

What once appeared as evil
now appears as good, though not truly
just as what once sounded sweet to our ears
now makes us cringe with despair,
crying desperately into the silence of the night

what once appeared as good
now appears desecrated
destroyed by a holy war
launched by lies,
fed by fear
a fire in the silence of the night

Tags: blogging, connectivity, creativity, poetry, political abuse politics, technology