On a cold morning I feel the history of my journey. Every healed broken bone, a vivid memory of an accident years ago. It is the only time of the year I really slow down. It would be easy to take a pill and become functional quickly. Not me! I give my body what it needs the old fashioned way. Pain is the body’s dialect to remind one, something is not right. I take my time getting out of bed (the biggest challenge), sit for a few moments to let my body adjust to a manageable level of pain, then start my day. It is tempting in those few moments to allow panic to flood me. There is so much still that I want to do in life. I’d hate pain to get in the way.
Some people confuse a simple life with an easy life. This is not true. There is complexity in simplicity. It requires a level of discernment as opposed to automation. Take for example technology … how many children rely on programs to correct their grammar and spelling? How many refer to a dictionary as a first option? How many children know how to read a map and do maths, without the use of a calculator? I was stunned when I asked a teen how they would find a phone number for the local pizza shop and the response I got was, “I can just ask Siri”.
I cannot help but wonder at the potential cognitive changes that may be a result of technology. Are we becoming less reactive? Are we changing our own ‘wiring’ and relying more on software? Are we becoming cognitively ‘lazy’? I wonder this because I’m buying a new car. It’s hard to find a model in my budget range without all the bells and whistles that forewarn, and react for me, under the guise of ‘safety package’. When I drive I want to stay alert. I want to use my own judgement to keep a safe distance between cars. I want my brain to think for me. I want to remember the speed zone. I want to look over my shoulder and be aware of the blind spot. I want to enhance my spatial perception, my cognitive reasoning. I feel there is danger of mind-body disconnection, when we are reliant on external factors to do this for us.
In an increasingly automated world, I find my time with camera is where I make my mind-body connection. Like watching the Pacific Gull on West Beach in Esperance ….
The gull stood still and watched the tide come in. From the road above, I did the same.
Then the gull then strode out purposefully to meet it.
It seemed to know where to stop. 
It stood still and waited.
The tide came in with bounty. The Pacific Gull knew this. This was time honoured instinct. Honed and practiced. No technology to guide it. It was a beautiful thing to observe. A moment of mind-body connection, for gull, and me.
Call my views antediluvian. I’m okay with that. I’m one of those who enjoys the challenge of looking up the meaning of new words. I do it the old fashioned way. It’s like opening up a wrapped gift. The excitement of the unknown.
Thank you Ragtag Daily Prompt! I learned a new word today! Perhaps, even earned a new label!
Until next time
As always
a dawn bird
A Shared Space 
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