A newspaper, an encyclopedia & a phone

Paris, January 23, 2022

Today was a cold morning in Paris. I was wearing many layers of clothes on during my morning walk. 

I was exchanging ideas with a friend while we were walking by the river and enjoying the views of Paris on a quiet winter Sunday morning.

During the walk, I got thinking about how much our everyday life has changed in the way we relate to technology. How, for many of us, our daily lives involve digital connection for many hours each day. Is through technology that we read a newspaper, do our work, research, call our friends and take a picture. 

For a moment, my mind traveled to my growing up years in Mexico. I remember so vividly the afternoons at my grandma’s home while doing elementary school homework. Our source of information was a collection of books and an encyclopedia. That was it. This created specific boundaries around how much we could do.

Then I thought about phones at that time. The phones were attached by a cord. You would sit and speak at one specific location. There was a specific boundary on where we could make or receive phone calls. 

The third reflection was around Newspapers. I would observe my parents enjoy quiet time reading the Newspaper without any rush. I remember touching the newspaper and noticing the ink attached to my hands. There was a time and a place to read the newspaper. 

During my elementary school years, I wouldn’t have dreamed that one day, I was going to be living in Paris, writing this message that you can read wherever you are in the world. That is incredible. 

I want to capture those memories because the world of technology is moving fast. While the possibilities of how we connect, what we can do and create are endless, this post is a gentle reminder to give your brain some space to rest and rebalance from this fast-paced everyday life. 

Sundays are great days to let the screens rest and use your eyes to connect to the world outside. A moment of pause and reflection to re-charge “batteries” for the week ahead. 

If you get to go outside, observe carefully which colors, sights and sounds you can catch as you let your mind wonder.