"Hansel, They're in the computer." We all know the scene; the 2001 Space Oddysey soundtrack plays in the background. Once D. Zoolander and his nemesis-turned-best-model-man-friend, Hansel, decide to team up to challenge the evil Matilda, they face the challenge of getting the all-important Files Out of the Computer. While tackling the task like a of couple of crazed monkeys, they didn't have the necessary (mind) tools to retrieve the files-the all important information that would inevitably save the world. The pressure these unlikely heroes faced and the lack of knowledge nearly placed the entire world in peril.
I wasn't born with the constitution to handle such challenges, either. The world would not survive if it depended upon my abilities with technology. My brother got all the DNA God dolled out for our Tacke family in this arena. As a teen with extra brain power, he gleefully drove his green Schwinn 10-speed to Radio Shack whenever he had the time to format and program their computers, for fun, in the 1970's. Recently, brother John commandeered my remote control and set up my viewing system so I could start watching the television like the rest of the planet, in binge consumption form. It's real nice to have a smarty tech pants sibling.
Thankfully, the universe sent enough folks here to earth that can face and work with the tech devices that rule our world. I appreciate this type of intelligence, though I lack it. I am so grateful we each have natural aptitudes that were gifted to us to at birth and that we also have the capacity to learn more along our journey with extraordinary teachers and experiences that spark our inner genius as well. Its a wonder how varied we all are in our brilliance and how it all shows up in our lives. Just like we all have individual tastes for favorite foods, colors and music, we are inclined to learn and retain information that we are interested in. I feel a bit vulnerable that I may fall into the abyss of information and struggle to surface. It seems we are soaked with so much news and accounts of goings on that we could fall into a rabbit hole like Alice so easily. I am easily overwhelmed with the constant information exposure and must take pause to breath it in less. Sometimes, I unplug and check out of it all. The risk is that yes, I get behind on news and such. I feel inadequately debriefed when I peek my head back out. I am best at taking in new bits of information and setting to find an application for that new file in my mind's computer system, or I risk losing the bits and the files.
I am in awe of the big brother Johns of the world and grateful their minds have brought us computers to place files in.
There is a wide line between refusal to grow our beautiful minds (even better than a TRS-80 in its heyday) and overwhelming them. I really wish to be more mindful to be open to new information even if it terrifies me and puts me in the I-just-walked-into-Costco-and-I-can't find-my-way panic and yet, be mindful not to overdo it with the incessant keep-up-with-what-the-Jones's-know scenario at the same time.
We are in a consent juxtaposition, with vast amounts of data coming to us and having to decide what to keep and what to let go of. How much space can we clear in our minds for more of it? How much new knowledge can we take in before we have a system overload?
It takes guts -- a great amount of courage -- to say and face that which we do not know. I have a lot of practice not knowing, and it seems especially of late that miracles, angles, tech folks and kind teachers have shown up just in the nick of time to help at least get the basics -- the See Spot Run of the current information presented. I am on an accelerated program to learn what I want to learn and some things I really would rather not, but I need to. I hope there is enough space left in the file for all of these facts to get stored properly!
When have you encountered an awareness of knowing what you do not know and what have you been able to do about it? Have you even felt like D. Zoolander and Hansel, with the 2001 Space Oddysey soundtrack playing in your ear, feeling like a monkey with a file to find?