Screwtape: Even if a particular train of thought can be twisted so as to end in our favor you will find that you have been strengthening in your patient the fatal habit of attending to universal issues and withdrawing his attention from the stream of immediate sense experiences. Your business is to fix his attention on the stream. Teach him to call it “real life” and don’t let him ask what he means by “real”.
C. S. Lewis The Screwtape letters Screwtape #1 1941
One of the disadvantages of having blogged continually for 15 years is that you are constantly looking for something to write about.
It doesn’t matter what else is going on, if you have readers, particularly readers who have kicked in cash there is a desire to make sure there is material on the plate every day. When you do full time work and have other items on your plate that can be a challenge.
That’s where the addiction of Twitter and everything else in social media comes into play. It provides an endless stream of people talking about things and expressing opinions on things. It can be a useful source but the desire to be heard and to prove one’s own self importance can become an addiction as strong as any other.
Today after mass DaWife and I were thinking about a quick bite when we decided to stop in on our sons house. Our oldest grabbed a quick shower and joined us at a local donut shop where we sat outside had a drink and ate our stuff while simply talking.
We didn’t concentrate on our phones, or the net or anything else, we just enjoyed the sun, the food the drink and each other.
In short to the horror of screwtape we withdrew our attention from the stream.
Of course in C. S. Lewis’ day the steam was very different that it is today but the principle is the same.
You have the power to walk away and interact with life. Note how many companies have failed to withdraw from the steam of facebook and twitter treating it like it was “real life” rather than interacting with the actual people their business is dependent on.
Don’t make that mistake, take a step away and if it means you don’t see an update on one of your sites till this evening or even tomorrow. You’ll be shocked at how easy it is to do so.
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