Internet Addiction

The Internet is down this morning. And I’m lost …

I had to actually turn on a TV to find out the temperature (thankfully the cable is working). My pre-waking thoughts were about a ‘YouTube’ video that I want to post on another blog that I have. No Internet = no YouTube … and no access to my blogs.

I can’t check in on the blogs I’m following. I have a few emails I want to send. There is a new TV series that I stumbled upon yesterday that I can watch on the TV channel’s website. But not this morning.

I grabbed a pen and paper and I thought that I would start to write my weekly letter to my mom. But then one of the kids sat down at the table to finish his breakfast and I didn’t feel like sharing the space.

So … I wandered over to the computer. I’ll write this now and post it when the Internet is working again. Sitting down and letting my early morning thoughts flow through my fingertips has become the norm for me.

This crazy world of technology has me hooked. I like it … but I don’t feel comfortable with my addiction.

Cell phones … I love them for emergency and convenience. But not as a sole means of contacting a person. The thing I hate about them is the fact that they demand too much attention. I prefer to leave a message for someone who isn’t home rather than interrupt someone who is out and about with a cell phone. The way I normally work around that, is to email those that are 'too connected' and let them get back to me at their convenience. Not this morning ...

The Internet came back up before I finished writing this blog. I immediately sent off a few emails, followed up on my pre-waking thoughts and added those YouTube videos to another blog, checked the temperature and cruised a few other Internet stops before I came back to finish this off.

This addiction is troubling. But ... I'm not hurting anyone. Or am I?? Maybe some face-to-face, one-on-one contact should replace the connection that I have through the Internet world. Then again, it all boils down to time and convenience. The Internet Connection allows me to connect with anyone at any time. I'm not forcing myself upon anyone. And that ... is my style.

I like putting my words 'out there' for people to read when it is convenient for them. I don't like forcing my presence on anyone.

I may not cure this addiction entirely. There is too much to be gained. But I will try not to panic when outside forces make me look for other ways to connect to the world when that tenuous Internet connection is broken.