Throughout the last few decades, I have observed that how many of us equate sophistication with material possessions, being busy, being there, wherever there may be? Then along came covid and things took a different turn. Everyone sprouted off about the new “normal” damm I really get irked by that phrase. And before we knew it, we were zooming 24/7. Always online, always available. The dining room became the office. We were not spending an hour in traffic in the morning, we now logged on an hour before. The hour on the homeward journey was now rather spent online. There was no differentiation in our lives or at least I found, not in mine anyhow to help strike a balance. Suddenly evenings were spent attending online meetings/events and community discussions, presentations, and workshops. We started attending more and more of these because it was quick and easy and we did not have to travel, we could do it from the abovesaid dining room.
Fast Forward to today and I just realized …. ENOUGH!
I’m done. So, I have slowly started clawing my life back. I am starting to edit the number of afterhours meetings that organizations now have and request my attendance. In every industry we have about 2 or 3 related industry related governing organizations who deem it fit to now have their meetings/events and presentations online after hours. I started making a list of those that I belong to. Quite a few, so if each one has one meeting/online event per month that adds up to quite a few events per month…. Enough!
I have edited this list. I have only signed up for those that can add the most value to my life. I was supposed to attend an online event tonight. Due to time zones, the start was scheduled for 20h30 and end at 22h30. Smiling to myself I have declined the event and opted to sit outside on the patio with a glass of wine and in the company of my dog who is absolutely superb company. Just the two of us, a beautiful night sky, and the sounds of everyday suburbia slowly ending in the background. Absolute bliss, in my view absolute sophistication in its simplicity.
