so yes, I do not actually need to stay so connected. for now at least. After 3 years of a blackberry world since graduation from Penn, i realized back to more primitive roots of having a simple cell phone and daily email access may do me some wonders in terms of restoring some sense of quietness and reducing the noise in life.
Particularly after 2+ years of the consulting/travel/commuting life always armed and aided by a mobile device which in some ways becomes an extension of yourself, it might actually just be helpful to become slightly one step more removed.
blackberry, bbm, gmail, facebook, etc. there are a tons of ways to stay connected, and each of them very usefully so. But now that I am temporarily unemployed (i use the word very carefully as I would like to think that I am still being somewhat productive!), there really isn't that much need to be so connected; to check whether or not the red light on the top right corner is blinking each morning or each night; to get caught in the midst of random social emails and a lot of noise and chatter; or simply just to feel that you are so intimately and intuitively connected to the outside (digital world). Being so digitally connected, I realized, may also in some ways be as much as manifestation of social identity rather than the absolute, utilitarian necessity.
Also because I will undertaking a series of mini travels the next couple of months: Singapore, Thailand, Japan, India and Nepal (such is the plan thus far!), diz-connecting may actually prove to be better than now than ever to make these travels even more worthwhile, and introspective. To allow a more heightened sense of self-awareness instead of being so constantly plugged away, more concerned about the depth and actual value of social interactions/meet ups/catch ups when they do happen rather than planning for the next email/event or chatting away on BBM, and just returning back to the old fashioned modes of communication and interaction before I start work again and return back to the very-plugged-in digital world.
so yes, the young man, is, diz-connecting. somewhat, for the next 3 months.