everything's amazing, nobody's happy

I know we’ve all been there…wearily working away at our computers when all of a sudden we are no longer wired to the World Wide Web. We become frustrated, short-tempered and angry that the machine in front of us is not doing what we want it to, like it’s the computer’s fault that the connection failed or the document disappeared. And I know as soon as I say this it is going to make me sound old or out of date but the extent to which we depend on technology is astonishing at times. Our dependence on the tech world has increased so rapidly in the past decade that without it, we often don’t know what to do.
We depend so heavily on our phones, the internet and our computers in general to do so much for us that it’s no wonder that as soon as something goes wrong with any of our devices or our access is limited, we feel stranded. At the beginning of this year, the province of British Columbia, where I live, introduced a law that made it illegal to operate any hand held device while driving. They recently reported that almost 20,000 drivers have been ticketed and I can’t tell you the countless more I’ve seen that didn’t get caught. We’re so dependant on instant interactions, that making a call or answering a text seems more essential than the safety of yourself and those around you. It’s just one of the many examples of how chained we are to the technologies that make our world work these days. And while I’m innocent when it comes to texting behind the wheel (I’m not good enough at texting while walking, let alone driving!), I’m guilty of living a life full of dependence on devices… without my phone I wouldn’t know my friends phone numbers and without an internet connection at work I wouldn’t have much to do. After spending hours fixing up a file yesterday, only to have it magically go missing, I lost all motivation. If my moods are going to depend on how good Google is or whether or not I’ve got Facebook friends, I feel like I’m going to be let down more often than I’d like. Lately, with several technological failures affecting my productivity, I’ve found reflecting on the fact that phones and Facebook may rule my life makes me want to find other ways to function. Instead of fussing over the fact that the internet is slow or I forgot my phone at a friend’s, I want to continue to be in awe over all that we can do instead of the things we can’t. Because really, as Louis CK says, everything is amazing…and I’m going to do my best to be happy about it.

How dependant are you on technology? What devices can't you go without?