Inverse Relationships

My world is expanding. Each lesson teaches me something new to consider, or inspires questions I never new I had. I feel like I am learning at an unprecedented pace. But it is such a strange feeling when I sense my geographic world as being so small. I rarely drive. Maybe I take the car out once on the weekend to get groceries. I travel maybe two miles for that trip. Otherwise, I stay on campus or close to it anyway. Iowa City has been my domain and I haven't exactly left it's city limits since I've been here. There was one trip to Davenport, but that seems like forever ago. My world is expanding and all I really do is confine myself to a desk at home, a desk at school, the classroom desks, the bus, the swimming pool and the occasional outing downtown. My life is getting bigger while my surroundings have gotten smaller.



My cell phone stays at home for the most part. I told a friend this today and she said, "Aren't you scared?" What an interesting question I thought, but valid none the less. I think many people have begun to see cell phones as a necessity, not a convenience. They remind us that at any moment something bad can happen and we might need to call someone. In case of emergencies, I have access to the phone in my office and a campus-full of cell phone wielding college students that I'm sure will assist. I'm not too concerned about emergencies. I haven't given up on my cell phone and perhaps I'm being a bit paradoxical considering I'm keeping mine for emergencies and for my own convenience.

As I watch people text and talk and frequently check for messages, I can't help but wonder how building up our community through technology actually impacts our community in reality. What happens when people would rather communicate with someone at a distance, rather than interact with those people right next to them? Maybe though it is just a way to make the world feel smaller when it seems too big.