Pop Culture 180, Part 4: I Can't Quit! And Do Meanlingless Comments Represent Real Relationships?

Last updated on: September 10, 2009 at 9:44 am by Ben Bartlett

Pop Culture 180, Part 4: I Can't Quit! And Do Meanlingless Comments Represent Real Relationships? 2009-09-10T09:44:52-06:00 Ben Bartlett

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

I am absolutely addicted to reading.

The withdrawal symptoms are clear. Within 6 hours of our Pop Culture 180 start time, I was wandering the shelves at Barnes and Noble, looking at titles I could not allow myself to open. I think about books at least twenty times per day. I keep looking at my hands, whenever I have a spare 5-20 minutes, thinking, “shouldn’t they be holding something?” I sit down in my work break room, then stand up again- I have no reason to sit there if I cannot read. I stare longingly at the books on my bed stand at night, trying to ignore their pitiful cries to be opened and read. I go to sleep early, because I honestly can’t think of anything else to do.

I’m a mess. Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?

I spent the first two days of our little game trying to understand my own feelings, and I realized something simple and powerful; reading makes my world much more vivid. It’s like when you go to a movie and the camera work gives the impression of speed and action, your pulse races a little quicker and you emerge from the theater a little worn. The loss of books has highlighted the dullness of the everyday.

As a heavily word-oriented person, reading is a vehicle to brighter colors, faster action, deeper emotions, more thoughtful analysis, and incredible beauty. The rainbows and tapestries of this amazing world are condensed into a little stack of pages, and I can participate in experiences I’ll never have physically.

Consider the book I was reading just before I was so rudely interrupted by this week; The Agony and the Ecstasy, by Irving Stone. To enrich his historical novel of Michelangelo, Stone traveled to Italy, translated all Michelangelo’s letters, and took classes in sculpture. Now, I read his book and in some sense participate in Michelangelo’s world and Stone’s experiences in a way that I very likely never will here on earth.

Some might call this escapism, but I’m really not escaping the world. There is a complex interaction between my reading and my everyday, where books provide constant metaphors to interpret reality, and reality provides constant examples to reinforce the truths proclaimed by books. When my friend is hurting because a family member dies, books articulate the emotional power of grief and help me sympathize. When a complicated problems emerge at work, I often solve them using solutions described by books. When I deal with relational tensions, they reinforce the truth in an author’s description of a similar problem.

So don’t think I’m overdramatizing- I really, really miss reading.

Oh, right. Here are the benefits of not reading. I am a little more rested, because I don’t stay up late reading. I have played a little more video games than normal (which, in my still-only-have-an-Xbox world, means as much, “seclusion,” with less payoff). And I have more time for Twitter and Facebook.

That reminds me; I’ve been doing Twitter and Facebook!

They’re okay. It can be somewhat interesting to see what others are doing, to hear announcements about life events. I like the pictures and videos of my nieces, and I like it when my family members get on just to see my son being his goofy self.

But the overwhelming, dominant theme of Twitter is little comments that don’t connect to my life at all, don’t enrich conversations, and are completely unmemorable. News posts convey information that I read in much more detail on a website or in a newspaper. Even when I try to be creative with personal posts, the time and energy I put into comments of less than 140 characters just float off into the wind, never to return. And the dominant theme of Facebook is that I have lots of comments from people who do not know me better than others. They just use Facebook more.

In other words, my experience of social media is that they are massively disproportionate to the reality of my relationship structures. I have very close friends and family on Facebook, yet most of my interactions happen with people who are more like acquaintances than bosom friends. I experience interesting things with people, but we don’t talk about it on Facebook. And if I do share those experiences on Facebook, I inevitably get comments from people who cannot understand because they were not there.

So, recognizing that I regularly defend the valuable role of these social media and that I have no problem with people using them… so far my experience has been that they do not enrich my real life, nor make it better, nor bring anything of value to the table, with the single exception of communication for close relationships over a long distance. Again, I’m not saying that is the entire and conclusive story on these things… just that this is what it has been, so far, for me.

Three more days to go.

Cultural Appreciation

Cultural Practices

Previous Post

September 10, 2009

Independant For Life

Next Post

September 11, 2009 Zombie Devotionals

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Asides Elsewhere Featured Film Games General Culture Headline Literature Music Of the Moment Podcast Politics RetroPost Sports Technology Television Uncategorized Viral

Select a Month February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz