Technology + Tree Branches

My lesson in boundaries.

Today we danced with sacredness in Writing Club.

Sacred. Sacred. Sacred. Phonetically pounding like a beat in your chest. Sacred describes “something too important to be changed, violated or ignored.” - the internet

…or ignored! that’s YOU! Sacred You.

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I sent a special person a series of sacred messages - photos, updates and communication. The reply to each one was an emoji-reaction. I let her know that I felt sad to share special moments that only received an emoji. Her reply: “well that’s just how I respond from my apple watch now.” 🥺

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I have wonderful neighbours who have 4 children. They are inquisitive lil creatures who have learned to climb the tree in their yard, to get to a branch on the tree in my yard. Before I know it, their shoes are flung off their feet, they are sky high and throwing sticks for the pups to jump at…through my garden and the trying-so-hard-to-bloom hostas. 🤦🏻‍♀️ I have to ask them as “the no fun neighbour” that the tree is off limits unless we can all play in the backyard together. Four kids. Homeschooled. It’s alot over there they tell me. Their parents said “I hear you’ve become the neighbour with boundaries.”

This is a throwback to when the tree held crutches and not children.

So I ponder the lessons of the apple watch and the neighbourhood children…

You want the apple watch in case of an emergency - to notify people who love you. And, when people who love you reach out, do you use your apple watch to notify them?

And the fence in my backyard was disguised as a boundary that would require me to not have to become the no-fun-neighbour. Yet children are smart and playful - the joy in climbing the tree, in using the fence as a resting spot, certainly not a no-entry-zone. Who ever told them that the fence was not for climbing over?

This is teaching me that technology and tree branches can both be so sacred.

Where is technology serving as a heart-less boundary that is wrapped in a beautiful box with a glossy apple to make it “acceptable”? And when did we ever think that building higher fences would keep curiosity outta your own backyard? I think there is alot of talk of boundaries, yet we also ought to remember that if you wish for sacred people in your heart - in your space - be sure to find the gate in the proverbial fence to let them in. 💜