Dipping My Toe in the Stream of Information

I don’t often cross-post, but I just felt I needed to share this. Part of this post is based on a comment I made on Connie Rose’s blog. I also posted this on my newest site, CreativeTribe.TV. Here it is:

I have tried to keep up with all of the information flowing into my world through the internet. I subscribe to more blogs and podcasts than I can count, receive dozens of emails, and watch the Twitter updates flow by in an endless procession. I have tried to keep up with all of it and drink every drop of the stream. I cannot. I try to cut back to just a few blogs and a a couple of podcasts, but those only reproduce again and soon my inboxes are all filled up. Do I give up completely? Throw my MacBook in the dumpster? Stick to my moleskine and the post office?

Yesterday I gave up. I gave up trying to answer every email and read every blog and listen to every podcast. Instead of unplugging, I gave in to the flow. I let it wash over me and I did not try to drink in every drop. And amazingly enough, I felt free. I was free to dip my cup in and take a sip whenever I wanted without drowning in all of that information. Since there is so much to choose from, I can have the most delicious and tasty sips and let the rest just flow by. What a wonderful feeling! Now I want to do this with the rest of my life. I do not need to see every rare bird that comes along or learn every song that touches me. There are more wonderful people than I can ever know well enough to truly call them my friends, but I can have dozens of acquaintances that enrich me with the brief contact I have with their amazing energy. What an incredible gift, this revelation.

Chris O’Byrne