I Hope You Dance

Cell phones, Text, Facebook, Twitter, My Space, Linked In, Email. Skype, Facetime, Tango, WhatsApp. IPods, ITouch, IPads, IPhones, Blackberries, Razors, Droids. Mac Books, Mac Airs, Laptops, Desktops, All-In-Ones. Cable, Direct TV, RoadRunner, DSL, Dial-up. Flickster, Shutterfly, I-Movie, I-Photo, I-Life. Google, Safari, Firefox, Explorer, Chrome, Mountain Lion, Snow Lion. Just to name a few? and that doesn't even begin to cover the modern-day phenomenon of gaming.

This is what the kids of our generation are coping with. When we were growing up, Chris and I didn't even have answering machines, and when they appeared on the scene, it was a long time before they were in every home. Our phones were attached to the wall with long cords, so you could move around - that was as close to "remote" as we got. And before the advent of call-waiting, when you called someone and got a busy signal, it meant you had to call back. We wrote letters, we wrote in diaries, we sent postcards, we wrote love letters, and passed secret notes in class. We learned to type on manual typewriters because someday it might be useful, but mostly only for the girls. When we said we would meet someone someplace, we got there, because otherwise we'd have to find a payphone and a quarter and call to say we were running late.

It was a different time, things moved at a slower pace, and it all seemed to work just fine. TVs had only three channels, until VHS came along and gave us a few more, but you still had to get up off the couch to change the channel. There were no video games, no portable play stations, no joysticks, no remote controls, and certainly no X-Box or Wii. Computers were only found in sci-fi movies, and if you wanted to look up something for school, you pulled out the Encyclopedia Britannica in the living room. And it all seemed to work just fine.

My sister and I worry about our girls and the stress they deal with everyday just to keep up the pace of their everyday lives. Computers, the internet and all that comes with it have changed things for all time, and our kids would have it no other way; despite our worries, for the most part they manage it okay, but it remains to be seen what the long term repercussions will be. For sure, we're raising a stronger, quicker, more adept, flexible and adaptable generation, being groomed to cope with a world that requires far higher levels of intellect and skill, but at what cost?

On our way home today after an afternoon of laughter and silliness, a song came on the radio and the girls started singing along - of course, they knew all of words, and we danced and sang at the top of our lungs. I just hope they really listened to what they were saying. The words could have been from me, from Chris, from all of us who hail from another generation and know how easy it is to lose one's self in the tidal wave of change that continues to sweep us all along:

"I hope you never lose your sense of wonder.
You get your fill to eat but always keep that hunger.
May you never take one single breath for granted.
God forbid love ever leave you empty handed.

I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean
Whenever one door closes I hope one more opens.
Promise me that you'll give faith a fighting chance,
And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance,
I hope you dance.

I hope you never fear those mountains in the distance,
Never settle for the path of least resistance.
Living might mean taking chances, but they're worth taking,
Loving might be a mistake, but it's worth making.

Don't let some hell-bent heart leave you bitter.
When you come close to selling out, reconsider.
Give the heavens above more than just a passing glance,
And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance,
I hope you dance. I hope you dance."

-- Lee Ann Womack