Friday, September 30, 2011

You Can't Upload Love -- And You Know the Rest

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The grapevines are turning on a beautiful autumn day in Maikammer, Germany
 
“You can’t upload love, you can’t download time, you can’t Google all of life’s answers.  You must actually live some of your life.”

As a life-long academic writer and researcher, normally I wouldn’t use a quotation unless I had the source.  The place I found it didn’t have adequate source information and by googling I found it’s been passed around, but I’ve yet to find it’s origins.  If anyone knows, please share with me.

Trying to locate the source didn’t educate me on anything and took away valuable time that I could have been creating something.  Once again, I let the Perfect be the enemy of the Good.  I’m sure none of my wonderful readers will turn me into the “Works Cited” police or doubt every word I write hereafter, or believe I’m trying to appropriate someone else’s idea as my own (see, I did use quotation marks so you know I didn’t dream up this pithy prose on my own) because I didn’t trace it back to the original source.

And that’s the point for me.  Yes, I waste a lot of time online.  And while I’m looking for more words of wisdom about writing I’m not writing.  While I’m searching online catalogues for the perfect period piece doorknob for my early 20th century home, I’m not beginning my own renovation.  And the list goes on.  And so following endless links yesterday is why my blog is late posting today.

I know one of my sisters gets continuously ticked off with me that I’m not doing the things I say I need to get done (finish my garden landscaping, buy new furniture, lose weight, have surgery to solve my neck problem).  That’s ok.  She sees something that needs to be done and SNAP she does it.  She doesn’t dither.  I try to learn from her because, well, that’s not a bad way to live life.

So today I will try to do something that I will remember tomorrow and next week and the week after (oh, and by the way, I finally put in a call to the electrician for the broken light switch, so let there be light on our upstairs landing after three months).

As for my readers, what keeps you from living your own life?  Get it off your chest in the comments box.  Then on this beautiful fall weekend get out and touch some earth.  Laugh at something somebody sitting in the same room with you said.  Get a status update by calling someone and asking, “How are you?”  Then listen.  Take a picture of a sunset with your mind instead of your mobile phone.  Tell someone something you like about them; don’t just click a button.  Cook a meal and share it with friends and family.  Tell stories.  Enjoy silence.

Now I’m off to follow my own advice.  I’ll be back later to connect with you in the comments box.


The fall harvest, Oberwolfach, Germany
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To help cut the umbilical cord that ties me and Google together, I’m starting to use this wonderful little desktop app I found at The Voice of Stobby, a blog I read for more pithy prose and great little tidbits of information about things like the Focus Booster.  Give it a try.  Then get to work.
 

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

I LOVE that quote! And although I am familiar with AP and APA style, and work in a university, I will not get on your case about quoting without a source. Especially for a quote as good as this one! What a great reminder of what's important in life. I'm going to print this and post it where I can see it everyday. Thanks!

Scrollwork said...

I'm coming from the opposite direction than your sister, Julie. In midlife, I've decided I will dial back. I will not neglect the important for the urgent. My goodness, the porch light has been out for years and only now has the lightbulb been replaced (and it didn't take more than one blonde, either). And I am all the more appreciative of the light when I come home from teaching evening dance classes.

What used to keep me from living my life was a 100-mile roundtrip commute to a job that drowned me in money but sucked my soul dry. No more of that. I relish the life I have now!

Alana Saltz said...

That's a great quote. I guess fear is what keeps me from really doing interesting things with my life. I get overwhelmed by the effort involved in the things I really want and end up putting things off day after day. I'm trying to be better, though.

Stobby said...

Hi Julie...thanks for the nod ;)

'Have surgery'? That's some serious to-do list you have. You might want to think about prioritizing, which has always been a challenge for me.

Liz said...

Lovely post. I, too, spend a lot of time on the Internet when I should be writing. And I can justify most of it, which doesn't matter because I'm not writing! ARGH! Am following your links. Maybe the app will help.

Anonymous said...

The source is the song "Virtual Life" by Paul Brandt.

Julie Farrar said...

Thanks so much so much for the source. I know Paul Brandt's music, but I didn't know that song.

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