Our Instagratification World

Take a photograph and instantly share it with your friends or the world.  Give your opinion on politics, sports, or entertainment in the moment that it’s happening.  Send a video that is ‘erased’ after the viewer sees it.  Deposit or transfer money and pay bills with a few clicks on your phone.  Look up anything you want to know.  Welcome to the Instagratification world of  smart phones.  Instant gratification isn’t the reason for or result of smart phone technology–it has been part of the human psyche for eons.  As infants and young children we want food, sleep, attention, toys, etc., and we want them now.  Learning to delay gratification is a trait in human development that takes maturity, practice, willpower, patience, and the ability to see future consequences.

The calendar declared Spring was here over two weeks ago.  With daylight savings time and longer days, evenings are light until nearly 8:00!  Last weekend we had a day with temperatures in the 60’s!  But since then, highs have been in the upper 30’s and low 40’s with below freezing nights and scatters of snow.  Ice was on the birdbath we put out for the bluebirds.  The weather man was talking wind chills.  With the exception of some green grass, it doesn’t look much like Spring.

With hat and gloves warming me, I went out in search of the subtle signs of Spring.  The maple tree right outside our window that had been forming flower buds for weeks, finally popped into bloom!

Our tiny forsythia bush, nearly lost in the long grass from last year, has bright yellow flower buds.

Daffodil and crocus leaves are pushing their way up out of the cold, brown ground.  The yellowed, frozen tips of the daffodils are their crown of courage.

Rounded, red rhubarb buds emerge from the papery brown skins that hide them for the winter.

Honeysuckle and lilac shrubs will be the first to open their green leaves.

The hardy chives are growing fast, defiant to the snow flurries in their heralding of Spring.

Rosettes of sedum buds begin their growing season early and will grow and mature all spring and summer until they finally bloom in fall.

Mother Nature is not in the business of Instagratification!  Even though we want warm weather, flowering trees and shrubs, bright blooming bulbs of tulips, hyacinths, and daffodils–and we want them now, we must slow down and respect Nature’s time.  She teaches us patience and that it’s not all about us.  Richard Louv, author of ‘Last Child in the Woods’ and new book ‘Vitamin N’ says, “The more high-tech we become, the more nature we need.”  We need to observe the subtleties of Nature in order to develop the skills for detailed work.  We also need to look at the ‘big picture’ of us on this Earth in order to envision how we want the future generations to live.  We need to appreciate the early and the late bloomers for their contributions.  Nature teaches us there is Life beyond technology, and that our health and well-being are enhanced by our encounters with her.  Let Nature be your crown of courage and feel the Instagratitude!