Life is to be Planned

The management of modern life is a skill. Maybe it always has been, but until it hits you in that way it seems new and unique. Monitoring e-mails, messages on your cell phone, texts, what am I saying to people that is so important? Why do I need a phone plan with unlimited minutes and unlimited texts. At one time half of the people who were on my five favorites calling plan I saw all of the time anyway. Personally, I've learned to turn the T.V. off more and more. Not because it sounds like the cool thing that enlightened people espouse, but because I am aware of being sold something constantly. Most people don't even have money to buy things any longer but we keep watching and hoping to manipulate our finances to buy whatever they tell us to buy. So that we can feel...what? Part of society, complete, loved, important?

There's this great and wondrous thing I've found. It's called nature. I said this to someone the other day and they said, what? Nature? As if they hadn't thought of the word in years. As if it wasn't important, wasn't essential, because it required having to stand up and walk away from your laptop. Even when people are out they are distracted by ipods. I believe I deserve a few hours just for myself. No one needs to know where I am all of the time, I don't even know where I'm going all of the time. I want to go to the park and watch small dogs scurry around the legs of big dogs. I want to watch older kids push younger ones on the swing and hear the screaming and laughter that's sure to follow. I want to walk around my city, not drive but walk and get some exercise and make small talk with people I'll probably never see again. I want to be a part of nature again, I think I deserve that.