Connecting Through Corona

‘This is My Day’ This is my day, these are my choices These are my actions and my changing voices. Many paths lay ahead and many paths I leave behind, Which way will I go, which way will I find? And you ask me to decide, You ask me to choose one way. But I can’t follow a single path, I am happy to stray. I don’t mean to get lost and I don’t mean to lose sight, I just mean that I’ll wander through the day and the night. And when I say wander I mean that I’ll venture, I mean that I’ll take chances and not live by a censor. For I am confident that opportunities will lead me to great things, I am open to life’s challenges and all that life brings. My heart is wide open to embrace and to share, And my mind is as hungry to learn and to dare.’ by Rachel Mathews-McKay, Dublin, Ireland Biography:  Rachel Mathews-Mckay – mixed race of Irish, Jamaican, Bermudian and Canadian heritage but born in Bradford, West Yorkshire. She has been settled in Dublin, Ireland for the past 21 years where, sin...

The Power of Joy One of the things that has helped me to overcome my own fears and anxiety, and one of the best things I’ve ever done in my life has been getting a dog during lockdown. The results have been incredible. Not only have I overcome my phobia of dogs that I’ve had for over 40 years, but it has brought so much joy and love into my life that I even decided to get a second dog out of the blue during the second lockdown. I feel a kind of freedom and joy unlike any I’ve ever felt before and that’s why I’m choosing to share this story here with you, to see if it can inspire you too, to pursue all your dreams and never let your fears stop you from doing anything in life, because if I can do it, anyone else can do it too. During lockdown, I finally began to enjoy my beautiful home. For the first time ever since I got my place, I’d been able to spend quality time at home and be here longer than for just sleeping and showering before heading out in the morning to yet another hectic d...

A critical and skeptical view of (dis-) connecting in times of corona It is fascinating how the Internet is connecting people all over the world in new and unexpected ways, radically shaping our perspective and giving the world a new type of central nervous system. Technology is clearly changing us, especially the way we connect with our friends, families, and the world around us. But technology has also led to some of the biggest problems of our daily life. It is accelerating our connectedness in ways we cannot even predict or be completely aware of. 2020 and the pandemic leveraged it into unprecedented extent . Let’s examine what can happen when these technologies take over and overwhelm our personal lives. The dark side refers to the caustic influence of technology on the individual and society where AI programs are designed to keep us scrolling frenetically manipulating us. This is the “climate change” of culture that’s happening visibly through our devices. Social media...