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From: Frances
Date: 07 Apr 2004
Time: 18:44:54 -0500
Remote Name: 205.188.116.132
I really wanted to respond sooner, but my senses have been utterly overloaded by forms, instructions and publications, courtesy of the U.S. IRS! Better now, and I offer the following ramble: I think we all have our own gyroscope, and it's up to us to control its speed and direction. Nobody can cope with all the data that is hurled at us; you choose for yourself, or the choice is made for you. As far as the quality of the content of all that assaults our senses...well, Ill make judgments as necessary in order to make my choices, but Ill leave the rest to history to sort out. Nick, you said, "the desire for reflection and the swiftness of civilization (?) are at odds in me"....do you feel like Alice, running with all her might, just to stay in place? I don't think that selectively taking yourself out of the race necessarily means you're going to be left behind. (And, by way of analogy, as Lily Tomlin said, "The trouble with the rat race is that even if you win, you're still a rat.") Choosing to spend a part of your life in contemplation or reflection doesn't mean you're giving up the race, you're only redefining it. (Easy for me to say...I don't have teenagers putting pressure on me to stay in touch with their reality). But here's a question: will those teenagers, being bombarded since birth, have a higher capacity than Nick and I (being of about the same age), to cope with, filter, respond to, manage and/or manipulate all of the world's stimuli?