Balancing Digital Connectivity and Nature: Reflections from a Volcano’s Shadow
Nomad Vlog 6 - In Our Second Location in La Fortuna, Costa Rica I'm Thinking About The Skills It Takes to Be Connected to Both Nature and The Digital World
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A few days ago, I found myself in the back seat of a 1971 Land Rover as it sped along a winding lakeside road on the way up to a volcano.
As we continued our ascent, I could see the foliage and the trees on the side of the road get thicker and greener while the air turned fresh as the geography transitioned from dry tropical to lush humid rain forest.
The drive was long, and eventually, the light through the leaves of the jungle started to fade, providing less and less scenery as dusk turned to the dark of night.
After a short stretch of staring into darkness, I found myself reaching for my iPhone to review the latest notes and tasks that I had for my ongoing projects.
Much to my surprise, as I looked at my phone, I had 5 full bars of data service as we continued further up the road toward the volcano.
Being the ever-productive nerd that I am, within minutes, I was comparing and contrasting software design architectures and personal brand strategies across three different AI models as I compared and contrasted the nuances of each.
All while driving through the jungle in the back of a classic Land Rover.
I couldn’t help but feel immense gratitude that I had access to both nature and cutting-edge tech in the same moment, and for me, that felt pretty amazing.
In many ways, for me, it’s all that I could ask for.
Gratitude for Our Current Era
We’re now settled into our second destination in Costa Rica, away from the coast and higher up near the Arenal Volcano in La Fortuna.
There is a gorgeous view of the volcano and the surrounding lush countryside from the upper level of our building.
As I sit and write, I am again instilled with gratitude to be on this journey and experiencing so many new things while still being able to work and make progress on various goals.
And on a much nerdier level, I am filled with gratitude that the internet speed here is incredibly fast!
Even faster, in fact, than I had at my old place in Los Angeles, which is crazy to think about.
What a time to be alive! 😆
It keeps occurring to me how lucky I am to have access to all the benefits of technology and the connectivity that it brings today.
The opportunities of online business, connecting with people from various cultures through shared online creativity, and more recently, access to the vastly growing access to the knowledge and intelligence that can be beamed down from the sky into the phones in our pockets with AI, it’s truly remarkable to think about.
Especially for an ever-tech-curious and creative, passionate person like myself, and I’m sure most people reading this, it is a dynamic and exciting time to be building, creating, connecting, and in my current case, all while traveling.
With that, I keep finding myself coming back to the theme of balance as I continue on my current path. It’s something I’ve always tried and mostly failed to achieve, but I feel its importance continues to grow for those of us who are striving to achieve while also living a fulfilling life.
The other side of infinite connectivity brings temptation and potential imbalance, and it is something to be aware of with all that is available to us in this amazing modern era.
A Double-Edged Sword and The Essential Skills of Our Time
It’s not lost on me that from a certain perspective, it is unfortunate to have strong internet access when traveling through the jungle, and I totally understand that. A clear separation of our origins and connection to nature and the growing power of modern interconnectivity and knowledge feels right, like it’s how it should be.
After all, there are many in the world who are unable to consciously separate from the temptation of turning on the sugar faucet of dopamine on our devices whenever available.
From bigger and better video games, personalized YouTube and social content in every niche imaginable, streaming video and entertainment coming from every screen, and the AI-tuned ad algorithms trained on our behaviors all screaming for our limited attention every waking moment of the day, there is a lot of responsibility in remaining virtually connected.
They are strong temptations, and the pull is growing greater and greater by the day.
But I much would rather have the choice and leave it to myself to improve my awareness and discipline to be able to consciously disconnect whenever I want to and need to.
I want the option to choose based on my aspirations and desires, and I am willing to take responsibility for my choices and actions and the consequences that come with them.
Those choices and consequences and the awareness to consciously choose how we delegate our attention, energy, and time will define how my experience and achievement in life are, and I am committed to staying vigilant in that effort.
In that, I think that we can see a shift in which type of skills are becoming more valuable in this fast-moving world of infinite connectivity and knowledge and intelligence on demand.
With so many options, choices, and potential, it will be the skills of discipline, agency, and vision that decide success and progress when everyone has access to everything.
Less and less will hard skills and learned industry knowledge carry the high value that they did in previous eras, and more and more will the ability to muster the vast resources of technology without distraction toward a clear goal become essentially important.
To Focus, Filter, and Finish has always been the way, but will become even more important as the power and options of technology and Artificial Intelligence continue to spread through markets and society.
When everyone has the potential, it will be those who believe and follow through that make progress and effect change in our world.
Looking Ahead
These are the thoughts I’m reflecting on as I feel gratitude for both my current scenic view and current access to knowledge, friends, and collaborators, all in the middle of the jungle next to a volcano.
For me, it is a very exciting time, but I know that I need to continue to improve my skills of discipline and agency to make the most of the budding potential in the upcoming era.
It is good for all of us to remain aware and vigilant of who and what are taking the limited resources of our time and energy as the digital world becomes more connected and knowledgeable.
And it is also good to remember our origins with all the beautiful and rejuvenating nature around us, and maintain the will to be able to unplug digitally and reconnect organically.
If we stay aware and in control of both, then all sorts of amazing options will continue to reveal themselves to us.
Michael