Progress and Solitude and Friends---and Prize Winner

The winer of her choice of download from my books is Loretta. I've emailed Loretta to ask which book she prefers.

Have you thought about the changes technology has made in our lives in just the past five years? Good things are the price of computers came down, the price of various e-readers came down, and cell phones improved tremendously. Those great television sets have decreased in price, too. There are thousands more books available as e-books to download to your e-reader or computer or phone. Life looks pretty good now, doesn't it? So what's bad about progress?

Many people count on their phones and computers to contact their friends, but spend far less face-to-face time with friends. Some people even text or talk on the phone when they're out to dinner with friends. Hero and I were in an Olive Garden recently. A family of five was seated near us. Four of the five spent most of the meal on the phone. Family togetherness? I think not. For one thing, if you are dining with me, don't talk on your phone. I subscribe to the theory of Tom Hanks' character in "Sleepless In Seattle." If you're not bleeding and no one has been kidnapped, the call can wait. Oops, there I go on another of my soap boxes.

Psychologists say that getting together with friends produces the best endorphins. We don't need to run to get a runner's high--we can go to a meeting or dine with friends and achieve the same benefit. Not only does it help that day, but the residual flows over for a couple of days. In other words, to be happy and well balanced, we need friends face-to-face.

Writing is a solitary profession. We sit facing the desktop or laptop computer for hours, even days at a time. If I didn't have Hero to keep me balanced, I'd probably only leave my cave when hunger struck or nature called or I keeled over to sleep for a few hours.

I remember a favorite scene in "Romancing The Stone" when Kathleen Turner's character--a single romance writer--finished her book. There were sticky notes throughout her apartment with reminders to buy food, buy tissues, etc. Sound familiar? The point of this diatribe is that friends are not just nice to have.

We need friends!

Join writers groups, church groups, civic groups, whatever. Don't let yourself become isolated. It's not healthy mentally or physically.

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