Gitana - Can you live without your 'life filtering' remote control?

> - One question we were asked as a crew before coming away was “Which
> parts of society will you miss least and most?” (Kyle Cooper – AQA forum)

I thought it would be good to save this one until we'd been away at least
a week and see where the conversation led.

The answers are quite varied. First one from Mike was Brexit (miss the
least), Dave agreed to a certain degree but said that being able to grab
what's going on in the world over 10minutes over a morning coffee – he'd
miss that a lot. James wondered about the politics side of things
generally saying we have so much of it all of the time, that it would be
good to get away from it. For me weirdly it's technology, but I love the
fact that we'll use essential technology and nothing more!

The society question got me thinking and I could easily go off on one
about social media, the impact it has, how social skills are being lost on
millenials in favour of tech based living and filtered living. But I
thought about our remote controls, not for our TV's but our devices – our
'life filtering' remote control.

> - Notification Centred
It's true, we have devices now that mean we are connected to the outside
world almost constantly with notifications for messages, news flashes,
sports updates, the latest weather reports and being expected to be at the
beckon call of those demands on our attention as soon as they appear.
This trip is a welcome breather from the 'notification centred' world that
surrounds us. That world makes us easily forget the small stuff, the
important stuff, the things that make us and our world tick, the things
that don't need a notification telling us there's something far more
important I need to know or do.

Sometimes people travel to escape a situation, a person, a place that is
stressful or hurtful, a bit like running away; others do it because it
embraces the world and takes us back to our own space, allowing us to
sweat the small stuff for a change.

> - Well-being
We're acutely aware of our physical health day to day - eat 5 a day, walk
10,000 steps, drink 2 litres of water, get 30 minutes of exercise, but we
often forget the more important piece of the puzzle and that's us, our
emotional health, our mental well-being. Often a taboo – although I'm
never sure why – everyone has mental health, for some it's healthy and
well looked after, for others it suffers because of some factor or factors
that influence and imbalance it.

Our generation grew up without mobile technology; when my uni friends and
I get together, our thoughts don't instantly turn to social media updates
and selfies. That said we've become part of the revolution that steers
our emotional well-being towards certain expectations; how to look, how to
act and what filters to put on life so from the outside it looks amazing.

For us onboard, we all have phones and this trip, they are just music
players and nothing more. This week it's radio silence, no apps, no
notifications or people demanding our attention, no news alerts, no random
emails...

> - Blogging and updates
I've been posting updates on our boats Facebook page since we left, but
remotely through our race tracker device (YB Connect – it's been
amazing!). I can't see the post, I can't add a photo, I can't see the
replies, I can't register the number of likes – does it worry me though?
No – it's like a message in a bottle, just quicker. It'll get there.

We know they're being viewed by family who comment in emails on how they
love to see them, it reassures them that we're safe and having a good time
and they can almost imagine some of the events!

We've been blogging; I don't know how many people are reading it, I know
my family are, school are and I've shared it in a few places. Then we
have two ships blogs, James's mailasail.com is a bit more of a forensic
overview of things we do with the route, the sails, the engine, the water
maker (occasionally he nabs my stuff too!) and then there's mine on the
WCC ARC page.

One guy I met in the marina before we left said 'ah you're the teacher who
is blogging' and went on to tell me how much his crew were enjoying my
posts. Now there's a notification I like, a human one, with an emotion
that lets me know I'm adding value somewhere.

And that's the key right there. Which bits of society will I miss the
most and the least? I miss the social contact with my nearest and
dearest, I miss that the most. The least is watching the 'filtered' world
unfold daily.

> - So where does that leave us?
Society has the power to make and break people, ideas and dreams, so be a
realistic optimist...
Make technology part of your life but not the remote control!
If you have to use filters, filter the toxins not the reality, if that
means a person or an environment, sort it!
You – look after you! There's only one you. Your well-being physically
and emotionally is ultimately your responsibility, use it wisely!

> - Could you live without your 'life filtering' remote control?

--
SY Gitana