Analogue Junkie
12th February, 2016
When we think about our most treasured moments it is likely they all have something in common… Try it… tune in and fully consider your top three memories (old or new)…
You might have memories such as…
- A story or poem being exquisitely read, its rhythm and imagery dancing with your imagination
- The soft kiss of a loved one or a welcome and wise hand to hold on a cold day
- A view so inspiring that awe fills your heart and mind, leaving you almost breathless
- The joyful paddling for a wave and the exhilaration felt as the ocean lifts and envelops, fully connecting you with nature’s raw energy
- Running on fresh snow before toasting your toes by an open fire, the smoky scent and hissing of mossy logs leaving you with an internal glow
- The sun on your face and a gentle breeze through a meadow of wildflowers on a spring day bringing a sense of renewal and awakening
- A glance of shared knowing between true friends before laughter at the silliest of things
- The warmth of your child’s smile or the compassion felt gazing into the soulful eyes of a loyal family pet
- Hearing a musical piece that fills your body with an electrical energy
Whatever your memories are… What do you notice?
How much of your body is engaged in the memory, does it remain a thought or does the mental imagery and sound evoke feelings within you?
Firstly: I’d bet that these treasured memories are “Associated” (in NLP terms we describe memories where the very thinking about them evokes corresponding feelings; as Associated)
There is much more than that though… Consider this… would you describe the experiences as “digital” or “analogue”?
As human becomings journeying through life, I am convinced that the essence of true experience lies within the very fine distinctions of variability each moment holds. For want of a better word… the analogue qualities.
In mBraining we use the term “bliss pointing” to relate to the precise mix of focus and intention, energy and attention, expertise and action that we invest to enable us to express our most compassionate, creative, courageous and coherent selves moment to moment.
We are after all analogue creatures, deeply emotional and fluid with our levels of interest and enthusiasm. Like water we can exist with transparency or opacity in response to our environment with our levels of presence being clear or foggy.
It is the analogue quality of our experiences, those finer nuances that create clarity and our “sense of place within the moment” those priceless instances of true connection with one another and the planet that we live on.
Now don’t get me wrong, the digital world has brought potential pace, efficiencies, bandwidth and ability to access data at an instant, bridging distance to communicate over vast geography… But it is not the real world…
The digital world is a conveyer of data not the data itself and in using this medium through which to convey our thoughts, ideas and questions… We can… if we don’t pay attention… remove ourselves from direct and real contact losing some of the poetry, subtlety of tone and color that real life brings.
So how can we rebalance our analogue/digital mix?
Connection with others
An example might be staying in touch with an elderly relative who will have seen so many changes in technology during their lifetime… If we must use a digital medium to converse with them, perhaps due to geography, it is still possible to dial up the analogue! Think about it… it is easy to send a quick text, where-as it perhaps requires more energy for us to pick up the phone and hear of their day, or skype even… but what a difference in quality! The nature of discussion and the parallel sharing of a moment is not comparable to a linear and overtly sequential dialogue. Perhaps they are deaf from attending many rock concerts in their youth… and the phone is not a great choice… the written word can also be experienced so differently when received in a hand written card versus an email. Ok it isn’t instant… but you could mix and match! Even for those of us who have grown up with technology the difference is tangible… Take a look at the last card you received in the post – consider the notion that it was specifically chosen for you, notice the variable indentation of handwriting – perhaps a drawn doodle in the corner, the sense of a physically travelled item that has journeyed from their hands to yours is very different to the ethereal notion of electronic bits.
Connection with the planet
Nature is a place where we can most easily refuel our personal analogue deficit. Get out and about notice how many green based shades there are in a field, or the patterns created during a crop sewing season, feel the undulation of the land under your feet, the textures of rock, earth and leaves. Notice how the scent of the air changes when the rain arrives and pause to experience the feeling and sound of raindrops upon your skin. Visit the coast. If you painted the ocean how many colours might you really have to mix? No it isn’t just blue… Look closely depending on the weather you will see a multitude of hues. Listen for birdsong early in the morning, how many calls can you hear welcoming in the day. Truly appreciate and marvel at the delicate nature of a flower in all it’s precise beauty, the restorative gifts that nature offers freely. When we take a lesson from nature and really embrace these continuous variables we add vibrancy to our existence and the world becomes less black and white…
So turn off the wifi (just for a moment) and go to find yourself some analogue… there is a big world out there waiting for you to experience it.
