Not the transition I expected. But that’s how change and new lives work out sometimes.
Wake them up, or let them sleep?, Bangkok, Thailand, 2005
Lots of things running through my mind right now.
I could talk about the wonderful world of APIs. I could talk about how the default societal gesture that says “creating is time consuming” impacts engagement-based marketing strategies. I could talk about how hard it was for me to write a non-pompus artist statement for a small exhibit. I could talk about my new-found inability to sleep, the result of these soul-stirring jolts that are robbing me of the golden sleep past o’dark hundred.
But none of that would really hit the nail on what’s running through my head.
And more importantly, running through my life.
I’ve pontificated about what happens when we bring the web into our life, but they’ve really been nothing but pontifications. Untested, unexplored, unused. I mean, I’ve used Twitter to be social before, but it’s always been a portal to other people’s lives around the world, more of a replacement than an augmentation. As much as I’ve followed the wonder of geo-locational data and the potential of stuff like foursquare, I’ve never really used any of it. I love the idea of “faving your life”, but I’ve never really adopted the tools that would help me do it.
All talk, no play.
But I’m now in a situation where I can really explore how the cool kids do it. Be a part of a bunch of daily physical and ambient lives, combine the two in new ways. Dip into the stream more to see what’s going on. Ask questions about things that will impact the little turns of my day. Expose more surface area. Start checking-in. Listen to the ambient noise buzzing me “look!”, rather than pointedly and stubbornly ignoring it. Play more games, weave jokes across more spheres. Continue conversations from web to lunch to web to bars and back.
It’s all a part of giving up control, creating more accidents to re-invent the self.
I’m not there yet, but I’m working on it. Feel free to tell me where I’m going wrong, what I’m missing out on, and I’ll try it. I’m easily swayed.
Unexpected changes. And unknown results. All part of a little life reboot.
