The Uncomfortable State of Dependence

Despite flogging appearances, other topics beyond the pissing contest in Washington DC have my attention right now. There is no way in which I can ignore one of them, which is the subject of dependence on others, on technology, and so on, for one’s well-being.

One example of the gnarly issue of dependence met me in the kitchen this morning when I was told by the owner of the home in which I share that the wireless network in the house was down due to a corrupted “airport card” and therefore an internet connection would not be available to me unless I directly plugged into the router – of which there is only one in the house.

Before I had a chance to knock the morning haze out of my head, I was also informed that I would need to wait until later in the day before I could have access to the plug. The person in possession of the router would be home longer than usual today and had to be online to finish a current project. Ouch!

As I work from home , it hasn’t been necessary for me to have an airport card, and because I’ve been on a home wireless network for over a year with few glitches for internet access, it didn’t seem necessary to create a separate account for myself. The cost is shared. A benefit to all. Sort of. But not really, I now realize with chagrin: I am dependent on the functionality of another persons’ wireless connectivity device, something I didn’t fully grasp until today. (Duh, the techies out there might say.)

For now, I’m offline…anxiously awaiting the opportunity to feed my apparent internet dependence/addiction and also post on this blog before I become a danger to others.

I know, poor baby, some of you may smirk in sarcasm (no, I’m not paranoid at all – hah!). At least I have a home to live in. A computer that can handle a broadband connection. My health. Kind of, although the stress of environmental disruptions in the neighborhood over the past 7 years has been above the norm between a steady increase in home construction and renovations, street repairs with rumbling bulldozers shaking homes with their bulldozing ways to scrape the top layer of concrete to accommodate the new top layer of pavement; an emotionally disturbed barking dog echoing shrill, desperate barks and howls for extended periods lasting up to 10 non-stop hours for almost a full year creating both noise and such emotional distress to humans that several neighbors, including myself, were eventually forced to sue the owners when they refused to comply in a timely manner with our initial civilized, patient pleas to provide solace for their supposedly beloved pet along with respect for their neighbors (which finally led to their decision to sell their home in a huff of self-righteous indignation).

Oh yeah. It’s been fun up here in the seldom peaceful part of what had once been the serene Hollywood Hills. Scream!

Back to the overall point of the post: I know that I’m far from the only person who is dependent on technology to feel connected to a daily routine of information and communication. And, despite the greatest efforts to have an independent life, there are people in our lives on whom we depend who serve an important function – a husband/wife/partner, parent, employee or employer…and on it can go. When these anchors are unavailable to us, we’re suddenly faced with a daunting realization that the clichéd rug has been pulled out from under our feet. At this point, we either fall on our arses or quickly, nimbly, work with gravity to regain balance.

Today, with yet another loud message from what I deem to be coming from “the Universe” that I need to take better care of myself lest I lose whatever independence I have left, I’ve decided to follow a wise philosophical viewpoint to curb a meltdown: “When fisherman cannot go out to sea, they stay on shore and repair their nets.”

Think about that for a moment.

I intend to fix a few of my own nets this morning after I complete this post. Who knows? I may actually accomplish something that has nothing to do with a computer or a reliance on another person or thing.

Amazing.