Think For A Minute...

PUT ON THE GLASSES

Take a sec to look up from your screens for a few moments and have a think about this. We're getting distracted from what's really important. We have TV, newspapers, bill boards, internet and a constant bombardment from our smart phones, pumping us with meaningless rubbish and trivia so as to keep us occupied and away from thinking and doing what's important - and that doesn't include doing your status updates on FB...

I stood squashed on a busy train today, no book to read or blog to write. I just immersed myself in my thoughts. I'm really trying get back to that mind state that used to be easier to access, the one where we could have a stilled mind from which clarity of thought brought ideas and raised a mental picture of what could be. But it's becoming increasingly difficult to find the silence and be away from distractions if I'm going to try and visualise where I would like to be in ten years time - which is certainly not on this sweaty train!

All around me were people on their smart phones and tablets. Some playing games, some reading news stories and others appeared to be either checking or adding to social media. The rest were reading the trashy Metro newspaper and the odd few, staring blankly into space.

I had my sunglasses on - a cheap pair of John Carpenter's They Live 'Hoffman' sunnies that I bought for a bit of a nostalgia trip. There's some pretty stylish expensive ones out there too. I love that 80's film and John Carpenter is a favourite director of mine, but the message it gives is very clear. We need to get some clarity on the situation and this is even more relevant today than it was back in the 80's. We're on the consumerism and mass control track again...

We're so much better connected these days, yet most are ignorant and unwilling to deal with the very real truth that we're being hoodwinked by the smart and focussed elite and their minions trying to take all the money. This situation is not gonna get any better. So rather than playing Candy Crush, watching cute animal videos, checking celebrity twitter feeds - or whatever it is that you choose to burn valuable time with, we need to kick the distractions and focus on making some changes. Positive use of time like improving ourselves physically/mentally, helping others to make their lives better, supporting our families, educating our children (not just dropping them off at school either) and taking a more active role in sustaining the rule of law and balance of power.

Beacon Of Truth
I know I've been in the depths of crazy doomsday blogs and websites for the last couple of days and this theme has cropped up a few times before too, but it's no coincidence that I've been stumbling on these topics as more are tuning in to what's going on all around us.

Technology is replacing our brains for storing/retrieving memory and stopping us having deeper thinking. I for one am not as in love with my iPhone and the technology as I once was. It's mostly used as a book shelf, writing and note taking tool that I can use as a communication device from time to time. The very fact that we can be completely tracked in our movements, all our search history and preferences stored, right down to the time we spend on each page or section thereof and buying trends mapped so we're targeted with even more advertising and marketing distractions - fills me with dread.

I crave some silence these days. I never want an iWatch and won't be switching on the new iBeacon access when it starts to roll out in the stores. I'm also mindful that certain agencies are tracking our search history and any written material that we've produced stays on the internet forever - so forget trying to back-track what you wrote. Projects like Truthy are set to psycho-analysis what it is you we're really trying to say - potentially like a thought police if this info gets the hands of the secret services, which it very likely will do.

Bottom line is this; we've been bamboozled with what this technology can do, and we're already on the roller-coaster, but we still have a choice to switch off our TV's, tablets and smart phones. We don't have to read that trashy newspaper either. Take a minute or two away from distractions, look up and get some clarity on what's really going on around you while you've been absent.