Journal

“The whole human memory can be, and probably in a short time will be, made accessible to every individual. “This new all-human cerebrum need not be concentrated in any one single place. It can be reproduced exactly and fully, in Peru, China, Iceland, Central Africa, or wherever else seems to afford an insurance against danger and interruption. It can have at once, the concentration of a craniate animal and the diffused vitality of an amoeba.

“In a universal organization and clarification of knowledge and ideas… in the evocation, that is, of what I have here called a World Brain… in that and in that alone, it is maintained, is there any clear hope of a really Competent Receiver for world affairs… We do not want dictators, we do not want oligarchic parties or class rule, we want a widespread world intelligence conscious of itself.”

—H. G. Wells in his 1938 prophecy World Brain.

I need consistent sleep and I am not getting it. 

I need inspiration and motivation right now

“Books are a uniquely portable magic.” 
― Stephen King

For the longest time I collected and hoarded books. I loaded up bookshelves, totes and closet space to store them. But after moving around the country a few times those books began to become a burden and no longer a joy.

Eventually it became necessary to sell or donate these once-treasured items. I resisted the urge to go to an e-reader. That is almost blasphemy.

In most recent years I’ve discovered the value of digital reading. I can store thousands of books on my virtual bookshelf that I can hold in one hand. Now I get upset if I can’t find a digital copy of a book. 

I’ve purged almost all of my physical copies and have replaced only a few of them when migrating to digital.

Why didn’t I do this sooner?

Due to the schizophrenic weather, I am not running. However, I just purchased a book on running for beginners.

Why do I feel like I am running backwards?

After the mental stress of sending off the tax check I sat down to the laptop and mindlessly surfed the internet for an hour.

Right then I declared it is time for me to cleanse and purge.

As I consumed large quantities of posts, tweets, videos and images, the eyes strained, my back hurt and I wondered where the time went as I shuffled off to bed.

Yes, it was downtime but I kicked myself for not making the most of it. They say that “the time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time” but this was not enjoyable. 

Over the past few years, we’ve been purging our material stuff and relied on essentials only. We are surviving without them. So it is also time for a quick cleanse to my digital consumption.

I don’t need to keep up with the latest news and trends. I am really not missing out. I don’t need to know that yet another company has shunned Android users with a great new app. Who cares? I used to. 

I will not be reading blog feeds, G+ posts, tweets or mindlessly surfing for a minimum of a week. Emails will be addressed from the laptop only, not the phone.

If I get a text, I will not respond immediately. You may get a voice response instead(!)

The laptop will be used only as a medium for tasks such as emails, bill paying, blogging, etc.

The tablet will do the same and for book reading only.

I’ll add more posts later with the thought processes and experiences.