Most everyone is aware of the changes humans are undergoing related to technology. In 1990, I had a bag phone that would most likely not meet the space or weight requirements for carry-on luggage today. Two major motivations moved me to that phone—an expected first grandchild, and being on the road at night all over southwest Michigan going to the homes of clients. I went several years without a cell phone, but now it feels as though my life would not work without one.
The rapid encroachment of technology into our everyday lives has been written about, talked about, lauded, and criticized. What is a helpful attitude for us to have? Whether you agree or disagree the benefits merit the risks, and, like it or not, technology is here.
In 1970, Alvin Toffler published Future Shock. Toffler noticed that advancements in technology (he was referring to those of the 1950’s and 1960’s) were leaving many humans frayed by the sheer speed of change. The results of this mayhem was dubbed “future shock.”
Over the past several weeks I have been learning how to create e-books. I started with a couple of short pieces: Where Moon Go? and True Value. Admitting that the learning curve is steep would be a bit of an understatement, but I have had some great support from Kim Jorgensen Gane and Ami Hendrickson, and the Write2TheEnd Writers Workshop.
A Google search for “benefits of e-books” came up with about 14,200,000 results. Remez Sasson listed a lot of the ones I agree with in The Advantages of eBooks. Here are a few of my favorites:
- No trees have to be cut down to make e-books. Humans benefit a lot from trees.
- You can download an e-book instantly. I remember paying $28 dollars to mail a $10 manual to Australia (that never did arrive).
- Having an e-book available across platforms is very convenient. You can read on your desktop, laptop, tablet, or phone.
- The cost to purchase an e-book is less, saving the reader money.
- The production cost of an e-book is less, allowing a more decent profit for authors.
- It is much easier to move a library full of e-books!
- Valuable links, videos, audios, and other interactive learning tools are available in e-books.
- Updates can be made easily as information changes, keeping your learning current.
Getting our materials e-published has been a goal for some time, and it is thrilling to have made progress. It is also amazing how taking these first steps has inspired greater creativity. The basic guide, Imagine Healing: Using Guided Imagery to Help You Heal, is already available as an e-book. Soon I will be creating guides for working with children, pets, and even how to use the transformative process to heal relationships.
Over the next few months, we will be getting the manuals for Healing with Energy and Healing with Energy and Language online. As we gain skill with all of this, we will be adding video and audio coaching to the publications. Our goal is to help folks access the life-changing tools of the Subtle Communication Systems. People benefit greatly from energy medicine (Healing Touch and Reiki) and linguistics (NLP and hypnosis). We already know that, now we are learning how to make that available easily through e-publishing.
Racing forward in the world of e-publishing at the speed of a turtle, I am being affected by the depth of the ramifications of all of this. Information is everywhere instantly. Recipes used to have to be handed down from generation to generation. It took me years to get my mom’s cornbread recipe because she did not measure anything. I can now search for (and find) virtually any recipe I want, and I can even put in the ingredients I have in my kitchen and discover what can be made with those.
Results of medical tests are now available online from home at the same time they get delivered to the doctor who ordered the tests.
You can take a photo of a check and have it be instantly deposited it into your bank account. My daughter’s “bank” does not even have a brick-and-mortar location.
If there are also drawbacks to technology, how can we find balance in all of this speed?
For many, mindfulness meditation is the answer. If you are new to the idea (and even if you are not), you might appreciate a link to the instructions for doing Vipassana provided by Deep Spring Center for Meditation and Spiritual Inquiry. I love reading the words. The feeling of well-being comes naturally with mindfulness. Such simple wisdom, producing very valuable benefits: “Know when you are breathing in. Know when you are breathing out. Know when you are breathing in a long breath. Know when you are breathing out a long breath. Know when you are breathing in a short breath.”
For sure, we are in the age of e-Everything. Make sure you are taking time to treasure what is truly valuable. Let technology help you do that now!