States of Being

Do you ever find it odd that our technology tries to offer us states of being?

Here’s what I mean:

When I go to add a new post to my blog, a blank page pulls up with a sidebar menu of settings on the right. And one of the settings I can choose as I compose this new post is “Distraction Free.” It eliminates the sidebar menu, providing an even more blank (blanker?) page. But what strikes me as noteworthy is the description of the “Distraction Free” mode. In tiny letters under that menu selection, it says, “Write with calmness.”

Absolutely! I would be delighted to write with calmness. I’d be thrilled to eliminate my anxiety over deadlines, paychecks,

reader reactions, and site visits. I’d be even more thrilled to eliminate my imposter syndrome, crippling fear of failure, and general aversion to finishing things that feel difficult. Sign me up for Distraction-Free mode today! I’ll have a book trilogy written by the end of the week!

But it turns out that my blog site host cannot, in fact, alter my state of being.

Another example that comes to mind is how my phone seems to think that “Do Not Disturb” mode will actually keep me from being disturbed. I can be easily disturbed all on my own, even by picking up my phone and ignoring “Do Not Disturb” mode and watching disturbing videos about cats playing tricks on dogs. My phone cannot keep me from the state of being that is me being disturbed. And yet, it still promises to try! (I believe I just set a new world record for the number of times “disturbed” is used in a paragraph, and honestly, that disturbs me.)

So what’s my point in all this? Am I just railing against technology on my way to tell the neighborhood kids to get off my lawn? Not really, no.

I find technology incredibly helpful. And I’d like to keep it around. Most of the time.

But what I’ve been thinking about as I contemplate the promises technology makes but cannot keep is this: only I am responsible for my states of being. My phone cannot keep me from being disturbed, but I can, or at least I can surely try! I can put my phone in the other room, close my eyes, and sit in silence for five minutes. I can create my own DND mode.

I can even create my own “Write with calmness” mode, although I’m not entirely sure what that looks like yet. Perhaps it involves writing out all my anxieties and problems in journal format before I start writing content. Or maybe it means praying more throughout the day. Or maybe it means making tea before I sit down to write. Or maybe just trying to calm the hell down. I’m not sure what the “Write with calmness” mode is yet, but I know that I am responsible for finding it.

So. As I explore these new modes and my responsibility within them, tell me: do you have any modes or states of being that you try to turn on and off? Work mode? Task mode? Do not disturb? And how to you accomplish it?