What was I to do last night?

Last night I experienced a blackout in my neighborhood for few hours due to crazy weather.  Along with no light, cooling or TV, it meant no internet!  And my phone was also on its last leg, so even using data was not an option.  What was I to do?  Read of course.

I surely understand the importance of technology. I know that the internet is an excellent tool. It allows us to connect more easily, access information more quickly, and explore new, exciting, and affordable ways to do many things. But, as someone who constantly uses technology, I also know that the internet can be abused, or to put it more accurately, it can abuse us.

Although it was perhaps not the smart phone’s primary intention, most of the time when I see people, add me to the category of people too, using a smartphone in public spaces, in fact using it for the sole purpose of distraction. Think about it: we find ourselves alone in a waiting room, subway, elevator… what do you do? The endless “feed” (so aptly named) often minimizes the potential of these moments and can make you numb to what they should really be used for: reflection.

I say “often” and “can” because I believe that the feed can be used for more than just distraction. In the right hands, the internet can make users pause and turn towards reflection. 

Let me go back to last night's blackout in my area; I got to catch up on a book I’d been working on, "When Breath Becomes Air" by Paul Kalanithi. Truly devastating and spectacular story, Paul is so likable, so relatable and so humble, that I became immersed in his world and truly forgot where it's all heading.  It was a sincerely moving and penetrating memoir.  This eloquent, heartfelt meditation on the choices that make life worth living, even as death looms, really prompted me to contemplate my own values and morality.  

Quick video on the book:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aetY_zS7Q6M
Amazon:  https://www.amazon.com/When-Breath-Becomes-Paul-Kalanithi/dp/081298840X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1497615965&sr=8-1&keywords=when+breath+becomes+air

To me this is why reading is so important, and why it will always be as important or perhaps more important as the latest technology. In a world where technology is so often used to lose oneself, I read to find myself.

What are you reading nowadays?