Is Technology Disempowering Us?
I recently reached out to a number of parents, six to be exact, about my concern for our children and what personal technology is doing to their minds, moods, behavior, relationships, and just about everything else. Specifically, I pointed out what I witness: the constant need for distraction, relating to the device rather than the person […]
Have You Lost Your Child to the Smartphone?
I recently reached out to a number of parents, six to be exact, about my concern for our children and what personal technology is doing to their minds, moods, behavior, relationships, and just about everything else. Specifically, I pointed out what I witness: the constant need for distraction, relating to the device rather than the […]
Has Personal Technology Killed the Magic of Travel?
I recently traveled out of the country. What was most striking about this recent trip was the constant and inescapable presence of personal technology. At the airport, on the airplane, in the customs line, at the baggage claim, in the hotel lobby, at the hotel bar, by the pool, on the beach, in the cafes, […]
Is Anyone Worth Turning Off Your Phone?
A client of mine is separating from her husband because he cannot separate from his iPhone. These days, when couples go out to eat together, the first thing they do is pull out their devices, if they are not already in their clutches, and place them on the table between each other. There is nothing […]
Is Technology Worsening Our Basic Restlessness?
The information age is to the human mind what the age of debauchery was to the human id. Our mind, jacked up on information, images, games, communication and all the other stuff that technology provides, is becoming an impulsive beast that has to be fed continuously. Previous to this explosion in technology, we, the larger […]
Has Technology Killed Down-Time?
A woman I know is afraid to go to bed at night. She’s not afraid of the dark or of having a nightmare. She’s not afraid of someone breaking into her apartment or of dying in her sleep. What she’s afraid of is open time with herself, the down time/unfocused space that bedtime brings, when […]
How to Practice Mindfulness With No Special Skills
Mindfulness is hot, and like all hot topics, it comes with a lot of truths and a lot of falsehoods. Teaching mindfulness, I hear the same questions arising time and again, misunderstandings really about what mindfulness is and what it means as a practice or way of life. Indeed, most of the obstacles that we […]
Our Phones Are Getting Smarter But Are We Getting Dumber?
Nearly 100 years ago, Albert Einstein wrote the following: “I fear the day when technology will surpass our human interaction. We will have a generation of idiots.” As anyone who knows my blog knows, I also worry about what technology is doing to us as a species. And lately, I worry specifically about how our […]
Finding Permanence in a Pixelated World
Last week, I went to Friday night services at synagogue. Immediately following, and all week in fact, I have been aware of feeling profoundly human, grounded and well — a part of something much larger than just myself. As is customary, the evening included singing, meditation and a talk by the rabbi. The topic of […]
Why We Are Addicted to Checking Email… and How to Get Your Life Back
I check email more often than I should, and more often than I enjoy. I am not alone in this. I have clients and friends who check their email up to 100 times per day. Some, even more. Given the amount of pleasure that email actually delivers, it seems that the urge to check it […]