What do we do when the script runs out?

I recently felt called to write a blog in response to Tim Arnold's petition, which, if you're not aware of it already, calls to stand up for people's right to 'choose or refuse' whether to access services digitally or not. 

After writing it, I read it out loud to Steve and I found myself getting more and more into it. I realised I wanted to record it. Then if I was going to record it, why not find some footage to go with it to help paint the picture, to tell the story?

Now, I come from a performance background and recently have been considering moving into voiceover work, so I found this a really enjoyable project. However, it's raw! There are parts of my performance that I'd love to record again. It was recorded with equipment I am only just getting used to in a space that isn't perfect acoustically and with no editing training.

I would have loved to have been able to spend much longer on this getting it to a stage I was really happy with. 

However, whilst I could spend time striving for perfection, the days would slip by and the deadline is November 20th, so I'm getting this out there now.

If you have a few minutes spare to watch and you resonate with this please repost and sign the petition: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/725049

Below you will find the written blog:

There was a time when I wouldn't have thought twice about using my phone to access different services.

I'd got to a point where it was always at hand.

I was sleeping with it close by. It was literally under my pillow some nights...

It would be the first thing I would give my attention to in the morning and the last thing I looked at at night. I would turn to it for answers, for entertainment, for support when feeling self conscious in social situations.

I would scroll for the duration of journeys on public transport and hand over intimate details about myself in the hope that an app would tell me things I could have worked out for myself if I had only looked to nature for the answers instead.

I used it as substitute eyes and memory as I captured moment after moment that I could then relive at any point in the future as though I was actually present in the first place.

So then why won't I use my phone to gain entry to an event? Or to pay for my drink at the bar? Or to be able to access other services from banking to healthcare?

Because my body had had enough.

I could no longer remain oblivious to the nudges, the niggles, the sensations that were guiding me back to a more present way of being. To a time before being Super Connected.

When I finally disconnected and found my way back to me, my body thanked me.

I realised I was feeling more at ease.

More emotionally stable.

More able to think for myself.

There was no way I could then reconnect in the way I had before.

Thankfully the nudges that I received were relatively subtle. However, there are many out there who didn't notice the nudges until they were knocked completely off their feet leaving their lives unrecognisable and left learning how to navigate in a world that is quickly shutting them out.

The ones who cannot, or choose not to, use certain digital services no longer fit in the neat boxes provided and they often slip through the gaps. Whilst people working in companies requesting these digital services often want to help find a non-digital solution, they get to a point where the script they follow runs out...

This leaves me wondering, what do we do when the script runs out?

Where do we go when choice isn't an option?

This isn't about wanting to stop people using digital services, this isn't about being 'anti-technology'. It's about holding space for the old ways and seeing that as an anchor to our pre-digital world - to our authentic nature.

It's about not putting all our eggs in one basket. After all, what if that basket breaks? Isn't it better for some of us to gently carry eggs in our bare hands as well? That way, we don't loose the connection to what it is we're carrying. The sensation of touch, the warmth of a newly laid egg, appreciating the fragility of what's between our fingers and what can happen if we don't look after it well.

What I'm asking for here is for people to look up and then look around. To notice those wanting or needing a different way of being.

There's a chance you won't find them but, believe me, they're there. Often left feeling shut out of society and barely afloat in choppy unchartered waters. So, on their behalf, I'm asking you to offer a hand to those needing to hold onto the anchor.

I signed Tim Arnold's petition to support mine and my family's rights of being able to chose whether or not to use technology to access certain services.

I also signed to support the rights of elderly people being forced into a digital world they don't understand and may not want to be a part of.

I signed to stand up for all people unable to use technology due to health reasons.

I signed to stand up for the rights of all children and future generations to be able to experience the simplicity of life away from technology.

After all we all deserve the right to choose or refuse to be Super Connected.

Thank you for reading.

Tim's petition is here: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/725049

The deadline for reaching the 10,000 signatures needed for the government to respond is the 20th November.