I saw an acquaintance post that he still prefers the old ways of blogging and writing more than just a caption (ala instagram posts). I find myself gravitating towards the same feelings. That possibly explains why I always take very long to post an instagram post and I even do multiple drafts because having to be economical about words drives me to ensure I'm fully expressing what I want to with the limited text deemed suitable for a caption.
Staying home more has allowed me the time to pause, reflect and have more clarity of thought. To me, writing helps too. I still stick to pen and paper when taking sermon notes weekly for every session I attend online, be it service or cellgroup or leaders meeting or bible study. I'm stubborn in that way. There were times I used my mobile to take notes, but I didn't like it at all and somehow just felt I was not absorbing as much as if I were to actually scribe it physically. Nowadays, I also write down thoughts and notes when I'm reading.
Speaking of reading - Libraries have been closed since April and are still to remain close at least during this Phase 1 Post-Circuit Breaker period. During this stay home period, I find myself looking for titles on the NLB Mobile App more often than I used to. Again, I'm stubborn in that for the longest time, I resisted reading on my mobile. I work in a library, I easily can get access to physical books. Though many people advocate the NLB Mobile App and sing its praises, many of whom are friends who don't even work in the library, I resisted for a long time.
I have a kindle which I have not used for 3 years because it is just so inconvenient to download books for kindle in SG. I asked myself again why did I like the kindle last time. 1. The screen is bigger than mobile and at least more "book-like" in size. 2. No glare when reading as it's a purpose made e-reader. 3. It's portable - the best thing I got out of the kindle was to finish reading The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy. The thickness of the actual books would have deterred me from reading otherwise. I used to imagine myself building a library of my own in my home, but having moved into my own place, I can see the impracticality of it in Singapore a) limited real estate within the home for a proper library space. b) somehow, those tiny dot like dust bugs just start growing on the books & makes me very itchy c) really limited real estate in the home. And because of these & the original reasons for getting a kindle, I'm now tempted to get a Kobo Clara H20 e-reader (after seeing a librarian friend rave about it)! This is not an ad of course. The main draw for me is that the Kobo is compatible to Overdrive and therefore means that books from the NLB Mobile App can easily be accessed from a Kobo! And truth be told - the NLB Mobile App is really very good & has a lot of titles! For once, I feel the stubborn side of me give way to convenience, accessibility & a desire to read more!
I have long been one who is slow to adopt new technology and social media platforms, let alone embrace them. I miss the "good old days" where mobile phones serve the pure function of text and calls. But lately, I find myself questioning what good trying to reclaim the old days (to no avail) actually does for me? What got me to slowly open up to social platforms was that it was one of the ways some of my friends felt connected to and I valued the friendships enough to use new platforms to connect to them. During this stay home period, I start to see how technology and social media can add value to our lives. And it became clear to me that my skepticism towards new tech & media has blinded me to the potential merits and more importantly, to how much society has evolved. Of course there is no denying how technology can never replace the actual human touch but in a time where such touch is absent and even forbidden, technology has enabled it to be delivered albeit not as warm but undeniably still as needed.
It's always good to take everything in moderation. My soul would painfully wither if ever a day technology replaced everything and the only social interactions I get is on social media. I trust that day would never come because we would all find an equilibrium of having the right amount of tech and new media in our lives without compromising the true value and meaning of an actual hug, kiss and touch.
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