I received an email appointment reminder Monday entitled “Cuddles.” Scheduled from 12.30 a.m. until 7 a.m., “Cuddles” reminds me to cuddle by jumping into my inbox each day at 4 p.m. I simply do not know how I would remember to cuddle anymore without it.
By process of deduction, my fellow human beings and I must be forgetting who we are. That’s why modern lives are overflowing with reminders — who to meet, when to get our hair cut, when to wake up, how to live and what to eat.
Without Facebook, I would surely forget about what went on last week. I would also run the risk of forgetting about the relationship I am in, as I wouldn’t have a relationship status to verify it. I would probably forget I ate at New York Johnny’s Saturday night or that I went to a party, of which there are 50 photos online. I’d have no idea when friends’ birthdays are, and wouldn’t get to express my heartfelt birthday wishes prompted by the birthdays tab.
And then there are the religious and political views — what if they weren’t there to declare my deepest beliefs.
I also rely on the iPhone calendar. It reminds me to brush my teeth, take a vitamin, get dressed and wear a coat if it’s cold. It reminds me to hang out with friends, too. Without it, I guess I would just sit at home. But this might prove to be a problem when hunger comes along, without a reminder to eat.
All this stuff wouldn’t remind me how to live if I hadn’t been reminded to buy it in the first place. That’s why I get antsy if my Pandora station hasn’t played an advertisement after three songs. What should I buy? I wouldn’t know. After four songs, this often becomes such a worry that I switch the music as I simply can’t stand to listen to music without a clear direction of what to do on my next shopping trip.
Away from Internet range, it becomes a little harder to remember to play my part in consumer society, so I turn to magazines, TV and radio for direction.
Meditating upon the fear in my stomach of forgetting my travels, I must share a back-up tactic I use to remind myself where I have been — the “memorabilia” approach. Decorate your entire living space with posters, knick-knacks, fabrics and photos of your trips. To prove I traveled to Africa, I would be at a loss without my collection of masks, tribal prints and carvings of women carrying babies.
We need more evidence of the busyness of our everyday lives. If the evolution in new forms of calendars, alerts, advertisements and social network profiles does not continue, self-esteems will be on the line. We cannot risk this. We cannot risk a generation that exists without being reminded of their third-cousin’s birthday next week.
So, capitalize on this. Start carrying around a camera and documenting every move of yourself and your friends. And don’t forget to post everything you eat, read and think about on Facebook — you never know what you’ll forget.
Bethany Lowe can be reached at [email protected]