The mixed blessing of modern life

I choose to live. I choose to be normal. I choose not to be manipulated by algorithms. I choose… to be free.

Well, for at least 16 hours a day, anyway.

It was the moment I realised that now, at the age of 58, I should have been classified as wise by my children and grandchildren.

The shocking truth is an eye-opener.

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Unlike expectations carried in the back of my mind since my childhood, it turns out that the person that stares back at me in the bathroom mirror when I brush my teeth, is unwise in so many ways.

Modern day life did not turn out what I imagined it would be.

Despite all its conveniences and advancements, it turned out to be merely a paradoxical existence – a double-edged sword that brings both unprecedented opportunities and unique challenges.

We are simultaneously more connected and more isolated, more informed and more confused, more empowered and more constrained.

Technology is my nemesis, although it is the crutch that hauls me over rough territory on a daily basis.

If it were not for my children, I would be lost where new apps and social media pages are concerned. Digital interconnectedness made the world shrink.

I miss the days of writing letters to overseas’ friends, licking stamps and dropping the envelopes into the mailbox at the post office. Then, the wait for a return letter from a faraway land that may just be magical.

The letter writers were fictional, mystical creatures, of course. I used to smile when letters arrived from “communist” countries and I felt a little like a spy when reading them.

Alas, now nothing is hidden. Everyone is laid bare on the internet.

Their secrets too. Mostly voluntarily, which is sad, really.

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Privacy has gone out the door. Why, we even get phone calls when sitting on the porcelain throne.

And feel obliged to take them, in case the call is urgent. No more taking a break from life by getting into one’s car and going for a relaxing drive.

The dratted phone is fully charged and tucked into a handbag. In case of a break-down, you bluff yourself. Gone are the days when you could go without make-up, loose hair, or prance around in a tracksuit when working from home.

Zoom calls may happen at any given moment and one would rather drop dead than be caught looking like a regular person.

We have all these smart devices, but we are not smarter. We are being dumbed down and are becoming more dependent on technology.

And who needs to remember phone numbers these days, anyway?

Digital inertia is definitely king of our see-through castles.

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