Addicted to the Pings
The Outlook Exchange e-mail program is out at Notre Dame. While the students are okay, since they have another program, all faculty and staff are email-less, and have been since about midnight. Some people are saying that it won’t be back up until tomorrow–who knows?
But I do know that being without email is deeply disconcerting. I’m used to the pings that confirm my existence. And to the constant newness within the familiarity. The million-dollar-lottery email could be around the corner (oh, wait the spam filter took care of that).
How many times a day do you check email? Are you addicted? Do you put up one of those “on vacation” disclaimers and check anyway? If you’re sleepless in the middle of the night, do you check your email, “just in case”?
Maybe I need a web retreat. What would be an Ignatian approach to email, anyway?
The one time in my life I have sent you an e-mail (to alert you to the goings-on over at MOJ) and your e-mail is out!
If you’re sleepless in the middle of the night, do you check your email, “just in case”?
Absolutely, and I check the blogs, too, in case someone is WRONG on the Internet.
Cathy,
Apart from time on retreat, the Ignatian approach to email would be “tantum quantum”, use things to the extent that they promote our spiritual ends. Would he have used email? I do not doubt it. There are twelve volumes of his letters in the Monumenta Ignatiana, some 7000 letters. Imagine how many more he could have written using email.
David, I’m laughing out loud. Perfect.
In all seriousness, I was literally without email for 5 weeks this summer (travels). Best time of my life. It inspired me to limit my time online to the necessary tasks I perform at work, and a half hour each evening to catch up on the 4 websites I still enjoy.
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Thanks David. Well, Matt Bowman had to go somewhere, since he was banned for bad behavior from dotCommonweal. Mirror of Justice is as good a place as any, I suppose.
And Alan, that’s interesting–I never knew he was so socially connected.
While the e-mail was out at Notre Dame, Father Jenkins led a Rosary for Life at the Basilica with Scripture passages and meditations to observe the Month of The Rosary and Respect Life month.
Same problem here. I hear that some companies declare one day per week internet-free and turn off all access to the internet that day, for increased efficiency. I’ve heard that one of the unforeseen advantages of the iPad is that it can only run one application at a time, so it forces the user to focus on a single task instead of letting yourself be distracted.
I don’t know about that, Claire. I think it allows you to be distracted, serially.
Nancy, is Life all you can think about? (joking)