NOW NOW NOW

You don't want to deal with your marital issues anymore? There's a quick fix for that. You want pleasure NOW? We've got something for that too. You want to get in touch with your mom, your boss, your best friend NOW? Yeah, we've got stuff for that too. Gotta know what's on sale at the Gap at 1am? No problem. Don't want to drive to the mall to buy that new John Mayer album?

We're a culture of instant gratification. It's not pretty, but it's true. Just take a look at all the things that give us what we want when we want it... divorce, cell phones, instant message, masturbation, text messages, internet porn, 24 hour news channels, 24 hour gyms, 24 hour pharmacies and grocery stores, online shopping, iTunes, webcams...

Some of these solutions to our culture's need for instant gratification are great because of the convenience. If you wake up in the middle of the night with a sore throat, you can run to the pharmacy for some lozenges. If you realize you just ran out of formula for the baby, Ralph's is just down the street. And of course I love the fact that I can download the new John Mayer album as soon as the clock hits "New Music Tuesday." If there is a family emergency, everyone can be reached via cell phone in just a few moments. Families can speak with and actually SEE loved ones and soldiers overseas whenever they want to. But ultimately, I think this desire for immediacy, this false sense of urgency is just making us busier, more unhappy, more stressed, more lazy. Yeah, I know I just said busier and more lazy in the same sentence, but they're not mutually exclusive. We don't have to work as hard or give as much effort to get things done and achieve our goals. Things are so much easier for us, and we take it for granted.

I sometimes dream of settling on a farm somewhere and raising a family far from the busy-ness of this technologically addicted place we've come to call home. Maybe someday... Until then I'll try to pare things down in my life, try to be a bit more simple, more carefree and less demanding. I've started this process already. It's amazing how much stress you can cut out of your life by realizing what the "little things" are that we don't really need to worry about or concern ourselves with. Try to keep in mind that everything happens for a reason; what will be will be. We can't control the future and we can't change the past. If someone dings your car, oh well, what can you really do about it now?

Peace and love.
J