For those times when you are perhaps seeking a moment of tranquillity, connecting with the environment just seems to work.  Fortunately for me, Stourhead a National Trust property in Wiltshire is just a stones throw from home.  It’s the perfect place for a Sunday morning stroll, whatever the season.

I visit Stourhead many times during the year to exercise or just to soothe the soul. To take the opportunity to sit awhile and think. [Read more...]

Having been involved with the dissemination of technology for as long as I can remember, I suppose I’m not the best person to advocate that we should perhaps give a little more thought to how we use it in our lives.

Who cares -I'm having fun

But, as we become more and more ‘hooked’ on the constant ‘desire’ to be connected, maybe, just maybe we should seek to strike a better balance between the simple pleasures of life and the arguably, artificial pleasure of ‘constant connectedness’.

As  I look around me I become more and more disturbed by the impact of the so called connected society, digital productivity tools and the unenviable mobile phone. Whilst I have no doubts, of the obvious benefits the right tool can have when trying to complete a task, or the ability for people to connect to loved ones afar, the ‘constant connectedness’ brigade that put you on hold in mid conversation whilst they reply to their latest superfluous text, super important email, tweet or incoming flikr photo of the latest escapades on a Saturday night really get my goat.

Perhaps, I am a little unfair, as a blogger I am dependent on technology, or more important the users of technology to appreciate what I produce, but for me there is a side of the ‘constant connectedness’ brigade that reinforces the self importance, the I’m more important than you attitude. For me it’s just plain rude, to put someone you are with ‘on hold’ whilst you satisfy your desire for recognition, for instant acknowledgement. It’s like ‘social road rage’.

I wanted to express a desire for the simple pleasures in life, or perhaps the ability to reconnect with our environment, maybe even with ourselves and those close to us. To indulge in aspects of life that don’t allow us to succumb to the disease of ‘multi-tasking’ or ‘multiplexing’ or whatever the latest buzz word is that prescribes that we do multiple things at once badly, rather than perhaps give more sustained attention to those people and habitat that deserve our indulgence and appreciation.

In fact, the more I seek, the more I find; individuals, families, organisations that don’t depend on being constantly connected. Volunteers that do so much to sustain the fabric of our society, families that try hard to connect with their local environment, organisations that encourage face to face contact amongst youth and aged alike, groups and individuals that commit 100% to their hobby or pastime. Not everyone is sat glued to the Internet, joined at the hip to their mobile phone, or getting withdrawal symptoms because their email has gone quiet for 60 seconds.

Welcome to the rather unpopular world of the simple pleasure society – for those of us that choose to disconnect from time to time.