Atelier Doré

Hey Garance !
Suis tout à fait OK avec toi, la technologie c’est comme tout… Super mais à petite dose… L’overdose n’est jamais loin… Je voulais aussi en profiter pour te remercier de traduire tout ton blog en français et rester ainsi fidèle et connectée avec tes origines !
Souvent je me fais la remarque :  » Et si avec sa ta notoriété toujours plus grandissante, son agenda de fou, ses multiples sollicitations elle arrêtait d’écrire en français pour proposer un blog uniquement en anglais… »
Pfiou… Le drame pour l’hexagone…
Alors merci de nous écrire tous tes fabuleux textes dans la magnifique langue de Molière et vive la France !!!!!!!

I’m 25, so I am part of the last generation that remembers a time without the Internet–as a kid, no one had the Internet, and then when I got to middle school, everyone was just getting dial-up AOL in their homes. You would ask your friends if they had AIM or if their free trial was up (no one paid for the dial-up, we all just used the AOL free trials until they ran out haha), and then you’d race home from school to chat with them, and then ten minutes later, your dad would need to use the phone and the Internet would get unplugged.

Today, the idea of dial-up is laughable, but I was part of a generation where technology increased so rapidly it’s insane–for someone born in 1920 who’d be 25 in 1945, it wasn’t a completely different world 25 years later; I’m sure the changes were still jarring, but the leaps and bounds in technology and communication were nothing compared to my lifespan. For me, born in 1991, I can definitely say it’s a completely different world in 2016. The world I remember as a child and the world I live in today are not the same–true for everyone, but in the frame of technology, particularly valid for people my age.

There are things I love about this new era–always being able to talk to your loved ones, never missing a date or hangout due to an inability to reach someone, seeing so much of the world and having so much knowledge at your fingertips. And then there are things I hate–people who sit on their phones at dinner, people who can’t stand to be « bored » for five minutes, kids who are literally shoved in front of an iPad from age 2 and will never remember what it was like to get an hour of TV time a day and have to play outside or use their imaginations instead. Technology will continue to barrel onward, so it’s up to people to mete out how much they allow into their life, and to make an effort to communicate face-to-face. I think trying to be polite and human is the best we can do–but who knows what things will be like 25 years from now? Screens implanted in our skin? It’s not really crazy to think that way, with how quickly things have progressed, and the future of all this technology is what interests (and scares) me.

Eliza, YES. I am 28, so I was part of the same generation: my family got our first computer when I was in the 4th grade, I didn’t really start using AOL/AIM until I was about 11/12, and I got a phone at 13, « for emergencies » (that still seems so young to have a phone even though kids now get phones at 5). I am constantly so thankful that I was able to experience childhood without cell phones and internet and Instagram, that I went outside and played and used my imagination and had time to make crafts and think and create. Sure, kids can and still do these things, but it is more natural to now be on the Internet 24/7, and resisting this type of lifestyle takes serious effort from parents and families. Look, technology is awesome and has opened up an entirely new world of knowledge and opportunity for us, but it still makes me uneasy. It’s so true how quickly things changed within our lifetime, and I often miss the good old days of truly being PRESENT when friends and family got together. I guess we just have to remain conscious in order not to become full-blown technology zombies. I am interested to see how our relationship to technology evolves — will things settle and fall into balance, or will everything just keep spiraling out of control?

I called a friend the other day and she texted back asking what was up.
It makes me sad. I text. I text my husband at work because it’s productive. He can’t speak to me but I can ask him to pick up something or let him know right away the boys are fine. I text some friends because I feel like people are busy and I don’t want to bother them or get in the way of their life…but I really want to talk. I’m actually sad about this. Who can I talk to?
I have been hand writing notes all my life I strive to do that and more often. But my current focus is to get conversations going. Meet for coffee or wine and talk. Chat. Converse. Be present with each other. I miss that. I’m being to feel like no one wants to actually talk to me and it’s not me it’s the the way of the world but I dislike that I now feel guilty for calling.
Great post! Merci.

I really hope that there will be an uprising against digital communication in the way that Hygge and adult colouring have risen against our glorification of « busy ». We’re beginning to realise we need quiet time and to take better care of ourselves. So many people now suffer from social anxiety and fear of speaking on the telephone, we’re losing the art of conversation and truly connecting with others. It’s a very sad situation for the younger generations who will have no concept of what socialising was like before the internet, those of us who do must keep the art of conversation alive.

I agree with all you wrote and the wonderful comments. Technology is exciting and can make our lives easier but there’s a downside too. I’m grateful to have experienced life before this big change. I’m concerned about how younger generations are growing up lacking social skills and addicted to screens. Hopefully parents will guide children on a balanced path. And we can all do whats needed to not get so caught up in technology that we lose important qualities.
I love more than ever simpler things done by hand and from the heart – written cards, drawing, home- cooking, reading a real book!

J’adore ecrire avec un stylo a plume, envoyer des cartes postales, telephoner et entendre une voix amie, je ne veux pas etre esclave de la tehnologie : a petites doses, comme le reste. :-)