We Used To Wait.

Have you ever heard a song that cut you to the core and refused to leave your mind and haunted you day and night and made you think, like really consider and ponder something?

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Since it's Reading Week, I am home visiting my family in Raymond.

Since it's Sunday, I went to church with my family.

Since my mom is a Young Women's leader, I sat in on the lesson she gave to the 14 & 15 year old Mia Maids.

Since I watched them text through the entire lesson, I have something to blog about.

I spent nearly my entire childhood growing up on an acreage.  If I wanted to get into town to a friend's house, I had to ride my bike, walk, or wait for a ride.  Nothing beat walking into town.

When I was in grade three, my family moved to Logan, Utah for six months.  The year was 1998.  My favorite days in Logan were the ones when I would check the mail box for apartment D and find a letter addressed to myself.  Nothing beat getting a letter. 

I was in grade four when I started reading Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.  I had graduated from high school when I read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.  Nothing beat the time it took to read each book and the year of anticipation for the next instalment. 

Around grade six, life really picked up speed.

I was 12 when I created my first email account.

I was 14 when I logged onto MSN Messenger for the first time.

I was 16 when I got my first car.

I was 18 when I created my first Facebook account.

I was almost 20 when I got my first cell phone.

Now, at age 22, I can communicate with practically every acquaintance I have instantly through a variety of methods, travel quickly anywhere I want, and process loads of information at the click of a button.  And even though I have all these luxuries, I often find myself getting annoyed with slow wifi, poor cell signal strength, traffic jams, or a slow reply to a text or email.  Because things come so quickly and so easily, I also find myself searching for bigger, more extravagant forms of entertainment or excitement.  What happened to the days when nothing beat walking, letters, or Harry Potter books?  What happened to waiting?

Is it just me, or have we forgotten what it is like to wait?

Please.  Listen to this song.

Or, if you want to try something SUPER COOL, go HERE to listen to it.

This song cuts me, refuses to leave my head, haunts me, and makes me think.  Those little Mia Maids today made me realize it.  Was what they were texting so important that it had to be sent right then?  Would waiting have hurt anything?  Do they even know how to wait?  Do I even know how to wait anymore?

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

From http://www.songmeanings.net/songs/view/3530822107858832982/#73015933344

"we don't wait anymore - everything's extremely fast today, communication especially.  long-distance contact can be made instantaneously.  so everything feels even more ephemeral, or transitory, or fickle.  we also don't walk as much in the contemporary busy life format, opting for faster means of transportation than our own legs.  fast fast fast.  it's only natural that the older generations will look back at those times when you actually had to wait to receive a letter, a physical document, and, in the case of classic lovers, a special piece of paper with the sender's very own handwriting (when not typewritten).  there was expectation, and the expectation itself could be a reason to be content to be alive.  a big part of the romance is gone."  -- drmn

"I think it's talking about how modern technology has completely changed human interactions and relationships.  It does indeed seem strange to think how we used to wait for letters to arrive.  The world we live in has become consumed by instant gratification.  Technology is our crutch; without it we would be lost.  He hopes desperately that he can have something genuine, even as he feels himself slipping into the same trance the rest of the world has fallen under."  -- alj93