technically, it’s the flowers

So, Saturday this young guy I know, name’s Zack, asked me to speak to a group of his friends, pretty much about anything, this would be like a Chautauqua (i.e., wildly hip talk). The conversation would happen on Zoom. I explained to Zack my technical abilities were, you might say, skimpy, and he said no worries, and right then, on the cloudy sidewalk in Ocean Beach, he sent me a text with a link to the Zoom site. I explained this would do me no good because I wouldn’t be able to move the link from the phone to my laptop back in my room. He said not to worry, it’d work out. Meanwhile, a couple hours later back in my room, I texted him and said I couldn’t grab and move the link from device to device, reminding him I was a technical dunce.

This went back and forth a few times. Him suggesting it would work, and me eventually saying find someone else in case, offering, again and rather repeatedly, cogent examples of my electronic wizardry shortcomings. Eventually he came around to my thinking (awareness) that I don’t know crap about doing this or anything in its solar system, and sent the link to my email where, in fact, I could and did click it and, happy ending, find my way to an evening of loose, goofy chatter with seven or eight of his friends.

There’s a moral to this story. Many times Saturday afternoon I said negative things about myself as related to technology. Over and over. And – here’s the deal, I knew it then and I know it now – they didn’t mean a thing. Like the tiniest puffs of wind – poof – gone, no residual, were they even really here? This wasn’t disrespect, this wasn’t me diminishing myself. It was just a couple of kids talking about doing something and how we was (or weren’t) gonna do it. Now, on the other hand, if I were to walk down the sidewalk this afternoon and not notice the colors of the orange, yellow, and blue flowers, well, that would be bad. That would be tragic. That, would in fact, describe a lesser me. Which, happily, that’s not my way.

I can’t figure out computer stuff. So – whatever. Seriously, in the scheme of all the planet’s doings, this dharma life, the day doesn’t give a rat’s ass. About my electric lack. Me dancing out into that very day and missing the unending colors of sidewalk flowers? Yeah – that wouldn’t be so hot.

I’m pretty clear about what’s important.