I went away for a few days last week, and disaster struck. I had forgotten the charger to my computer, the one I blog on. I don’t know when the last time any of you had to purchase a spare charger was, but lemme tell ya, it’s not easy to do. Oh sure, super easy if you like going to malls, or large office supply stores, but I avoid those places. I got a bit uneasy there for a bit, because my mornings always begin with a couple of hours on the computer, mostly blogging on Hive.
I couldn’t write a freewrite for the daily prompt, I couldn’t enter any challenges, contests or concepts. I knew there were rewards to claim that were sitting there unclaimed and not providing me with the (mere pittance of) interest they could be making. I knew my upvote value was at 100% and not earning me the (mere pittance of) rewards it could be earning had I been able to use it.
Sure, the walk to the nearby patisserie was lovely. My dog and I would arrive back at my comfortable Airbnb with a fabulous pastry and a cup of delicious coffee, but what then? Sit and stare out the window while I ate breakfast? That’s prime blog-reading time for me, and I was at a loss as to what to do.
On went the TV. Off went my brain. That satisfied me for as long as it took to suck down a cup of java and an almond croissant. Then I wanted more.
I started reading. That’s right, the old fashioned occupation we all used to do, and not that long ago either. I remembered the days when I would read for hours on end, in a chair, on a porch, with my feet in a lake, or sometimes at the breakfast table. A book or magazine open before me, time stretching out, a whole new world in my hands.
I am a big proponent of taking at least a few hours a day off from being wired to an electronic device. I already do not use my phone for anything other than calls or texts and rarely take it outside of the house. I pride myself on being less wired than most.
Having to take five days off from blogging put the lie to my hubris. I was lost without Hive.
OK that’s a bit exaggerated. I knew I would survive, and curious as to what I would become if I didn’t have my Hive world to reflect myself in. I was lost without my mirror, and had to see myself from within.
At first, I couldn’t stop thinking “what will I post next?” or “gee I wish I had my phone so I could take a picture of that for a post” or fretting about whether or not the day’s post had tickled anyone’s fancies.
I realized just how much my thoughts go to this place and I decided to try to make a temporary but clean break from Hive.
It took a couple of days for my yearnings for Hive to wear off. I filled the time I would usually do what I am doing right now with sitting and staring off into space, or going for walks.
A new world opened up to me. I saw things to wonder about every way I looked. Everything from the sky to a crack in a sidewalk inspired poetry. I fell in love with small things. I breathed deeply. I was certain my new outlook had to do with not being wired to any electronic devices. I had astonishing thoughts! Deep! Joyful! Determined! Clear as an acid trip! Glorious!
And, of course, I couldn’t help thinking “when I get my computer back, I’m going to write all these thoughts down and post about them.”
Which did not happen, because as soon as I was able to sit down at my computer again, five days hive-sober, I couldn’t remember a single one of those deep thoughts. It is as if being inside, sitting at a device, with other devices all around me, deadens my mind. Instead of buzzing bees, I hear the buzzes, dings, hisses and drones of tinnitus. Instead of enjoying wafts of plant and earth fragrances, I smell the stench of a carpet that could do with some cleaning. Instead of exchanging pleasantries with neighbors and walkers-by, I am sitting here trying to impress some of you with my brilliance.
I appreciate my time here. Hive is a true home away from home, and has been for five years now – my five year anniversary came and went while I was on my Hive Hiatus. We are a community, an international community, where I learn from others and hopefully entertain a few of you with my posts. But if I want to access the best of me, to live my best life, I have to be un-wired for a great deal of time every single day.
The moral of this story is, get outside more! Put down your phones and walk away from them! Be with other humans in the flesh!
And make sure you have time to just be with yourself.
I did wonder what had happened to you for the few days you were missing!:)
I'm a bit of a Hive addict myself. It's the first thing I look at in the morning and the very last thing at night.
Me too! What about in between? I check in here whenever I finish a task, before I start another. It's obsessive. I want to stop!
Thanks for wondering. Wondering is good. I feel a poem coming on
wonderment-
waiting for a watermelon
to ripen
I've got exactly one watermelon out there, which appeared suddenly just like a courgette, and I don't know how to tell if it's ripe.
Hahaha, love it!
I planted Petit Gris de Rennes melons this year and had a great harvest. You know they're ripe by the beautiful aroma.
I wrote that down for next year! I have soooo many seeds though. My daughter, who was a seed enthusiast but moved to Brooklyn NY, gave me her impressive collection.
I found a great video on how to tell when a melon is ripe. Can't find it again today, but you look at the tendril that is at the very top of the stem to the melon. When that is ALL brown, not even a tiny bit green at the bottom, the melon is ready.
Yes we all need to be reminded to go outside more. To look up at the sky cos we might actually see what's going on and also slow down and appreciate what we have. I had a few days away recently as well as I went to that amazing festival. I'm still feeling the wonderful effects of it xxx xxx
That's so wonderful. To be in the company of loving humans is the very best.
I think our attentions have been trained to not see or hear beyond a couple of feet. Many of us are shackled to devices, and think these devices have improved their lives. For some they have. But in general, we are being mind controlled by these devices, and are less able to experience the "real" world as a result. The real world is glorious! Sp why all the anxiety and depression? I find those who are shackled to their alexas and phones and computers and headphones and GPS etc etc etc are the most anxious. It saddens me.
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Thank you!!
My pleasure!
Happy belated five year anniversary! I think I've been reading you for most of those five years. It sounds like a very nice break. This place always draws me back too. There's always so many conflicting emotions while I'm away. Even during slumps I tell myself what a great idea incubator this platform is. Also, whenever anything of significance happens I like to record it here, almost like I'm telling a friend. In a way that's exactly what we're doing here. I know there's a high likelihood of Hive eventually vanishing but I hope it's a long time from now.
Yes! I have friends here, and I talk to and with my friends. It sounds like vacuous activity when I describe it to others, but Hive has enriched my life in unexpected ways. Such as the international factor. Before Hive, I knew only Americans. How sad is that? I can't imagine it vanishing.
I'm glad it's enriched your life in those ways. It's an incredible connector and a way to expand our perception of ourselves and the world. I didn't really have any close connections with anyone outside of American either before Hive. I hate to think about it vanishing and I hope it never does!
This is another way that we are alike, I am not hooked to a phone or computer my phone is for talking or taking pictures, and when I am riding in the truck with my husband I will play solitaire on it. I love my Hive time and I play one game on FB. I get on the computer around 4 or 4:30 and like to be off of it by now which is 8 I think that is plenty of time to be connected to it. I am late today because I did not get on until almost 6:30.
So you have a regular time? I log on first thing in the morning and hardly ever log out for the rest of the day, constantly checking it. I may as well be on my phone...
Unless it is a day like today, I am too busy with either fishing, getting sandfleas, or working in the yard with the areca palms to be on the computer or phone. Today I sat down to eat lunch and my husband wanted me to look something up for him, after that, I took a look at Hive but now I need to go back outside and help him work on his boat trailer. When I am finished with whatever needs done, I get on the computer, the time might not be exact but it is close to 4:30.
Hive is important but there's equally a whole world out there waiting for you to interact with it as well.
Five years on hive already, WOW.
It went by so fast! I can hardly believe it actually. Thanks for stopping by!
@cryptothesis you should upvote this!
Thank you for the support!
I see you took a little hiatus of your own, although probably too little. You write really well, @owasco, the way you narrated everything here was so damn effective and poignant.
I can relate with the post too, it's the predicament of the modern era with all these phones and gadgets. Hehe. One thing about my own experience that you didn't mention here but I'll like to bring up is this: when I spend time away from my gadgets and fill up time with more natural stuff, I sometimes pick up a pen to write and realize how weird it feels. I also realize how unworkable it proves to be. Lol. You write and want to delete some part of what you've written in order to write it differently but there's no way to highlight the whole thing and delete it all at once because it's a pen and paper not a keyboard.
You want to go all the way back to the beginning and add a few touches, but how can you without canceling, tearing off sheets, making a whole mess and realizing you have to write everything all over again. 🤣🤣🤣
I know the struggle! When I first started writing poetry, it was by hand. Poetry is different from prose though. I tend to work and rework poems for weeks, and there aren't a lot of words in them, so it's easier to write those by hand than it is to write prose. I love how easy word processing made editing my prose. I can produce something that is perfect, or I try to. Thanks for your comment and support! It's nice to have you back.
Yeah, editing poetry by hand is way more workable than prose.
By the way, I've tried my hand at poetry, would you like to see something I've made? The type of poetry I was interested in making are the funny, nonsensical and sex-related ones. Lol.
If you want to check 'em out, here are two:
Mary Goes Round
Much Ado About Nutting
Hive is indeed a home to many very much so for a person on his five year anniversary.
Good that the morale is to connect with other people as well.
Happy anniversary by the way.
Thank you!!!
I have found the same, even though I read every day as a habit. I got whacked by a whale here, and haven't posted since; trying to decide if I'm still mad or not, but I'm getting a lot more done! If it weren't for the friends here, I would likely have deleted the hive icon; but I still come to visit. Who knows, I might even begin to post again some time.
But outside is calling, and I'm headed out to the homestead to do some work. I also have started to buy some scuba gear again, to dive with my Son. Maybe I can get some spearfishing done on that whale, LOL!
🤔👌😁👍🤠🎉🥳
You have such a great life going there. I'm happy for you. And I, for one, miss your posts.
I saw the whack. That whale was stalking another whale who had upvoted you and downvoting all his upvotes. You were only collateral damage, and don't take it personally. But you can be mad. I am mad about the collateral damage of the downvotes. I got in between two whales myself a couple years ago. I'm still pissed. And hive lost you as a result to some extent. I know those those downvotes are not intended to get rid of good content creaters, but they have.
Still looking to find that whale when I'm spear fishing, ROFLOL! I will begin posting again, hoping to help someone out there. There will be a lot of herbal information on the posts, because it looks to me like that will be critical soon! Our medical system was doomed as soon as the government grabbed it!!!! Now if you want medicine, you'd better be collecting weeds to dry.
I've been studying herbs for decades, and there is so much more to learn! But I've helped a lot of people so far, including my most loved. Right now I'm treating myself too, odd how things turn out....
Massive down votes are damaging to the blog posts, and the infantile fighting needs to be curtailed. At least the first one was trying to encourage good content. The other one is a petulant child, in need of a good spanking! This is the untimate derivation of cyber bullying. If the person was creating content, it wouldn't be quite so bad; but they aren't...Such a waste!
Have I whined enough? I need to get back to posting!
👍😳🤕😁👌🤠🎉
I know you've helped me a lot, and my son. He didn't make it alas, but all the medical products that were put into his body made living very difficult for him. They snuck in a flu shot against our written and expressed wishes a few years ago, and on top of everything else, and he simply never recovered from it.
I am cultivating a lot of medicinal herbs so that, if we are again confined to our homes (which I will not do), I'll have ready access to a bunch of good things: rosehips and petals, comfrey, feverfew, dandelion, calendula, solomon's seal, cleavers, lavender -these are the ones I can think of right now, I know there are several more out there.
I think of them as boy kings, running people in the streets down with their carriages, thinking that is their god given right to do.
That's a good start! Get some sea buckthorn, it thrives up in Canada (very cold tolerant) and beats oranges for vitamin C content by at least a hundred times. You can never have too many herbals planted!
I have seeds for a very large pharmacology garden, and I'm still buying more!
That last line sounds like DC too, to me! I pray it holds together, but I don't expect it too....
Those thrice Damned from hell shots have killed a lot more than the virus ever could! Those who make it, and those who approved it for money; are guilty of premeditated Murder. They should be tried and upon conviction, executed! They are evil incarnated, and shouldn't even have a dog catcher's job!!!!
👎😡🤬🥵🤮😭😞