Shackles — the invisible chains of modernity

Daily Meditation 1,067–2/6/2025

I live in a fairly remote part of the world up here in the UP of Michigan. Hell, most of the USA doesn’t even know where the heck it is. “The… ‘You Pee?’ Of Michigan…?”

Well, we’ve got a good batch of deadzones for phone service. I know where most of ’em are, so for work I always am sure I’ve got my where-I’m-goin’ figured out in advance, just in case.

For years, the deadzones felt like such an inconvenience. There was a time I was showing a lakeside cabin way deep in the woods. Well, someone had locked it by accident, so I had to call to get them to come let us in…imagine the frustration at having to drive 15 MINUTES away just to get one bar.

But the deadzones are nice reminders of our invisible enslavement we have in our lives.

Texts.
Calls.
Notifications.
Videos.
Games.
Devices galore.

I was born in 1987, so way before these touchscreens and notifications. Heck — before household computers.

You don’t realize you’re a slave to modernity, to technology, until you hit a deadzone or the power goes out.