Don’t Be Afraid to Evolve

 

image courtesy of Pharyngula at scienceblogs.com

I was toying with a new browser today, Rockmelt.  It looks like it is going to be an important development in social media, in that it will begin to merge web browsing with social networking.  Rockmelt integrates all of your accounts in one place, and allows you to surf while being able to see what your networks are up to.  It also allows you to streamline how you post.  Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, blogs, it will make Web 2.0 even MORE interactive.

It scares me.

Not for the reasons you may think.  I think that it will make managing your online presence easier, and also require you to be more thoughtful about how you organize yourself.  But it isn’t the thinning of these boundaries that I am talking about.  What scared me when I downloaded RockMelt was that it’s newness overwhelmed me.  New graphics, new concept in user interface, I spent 10 minutes on before I had to switch it off.

I tell you this because I want you to know that I get how difficult change can be.  We talk that talk with our patients, but it is interesting how soon that concept goes out the window when we are dealing with technology.  We read folks like Pema Chodron about our desire to always find a refuge from change, yet we hesitate to apply that wisdom towards our relationship with technology.  We try to get solid, say things like, “I’m too old to learn,” or “I’ve found something that works for me, you can’t learn everything.”  We create these extremes that we use to justify not budging an inch.

It’s a good thing that when we were in the primordial ooze we didn’t have that option so much.  We couldn’t rationalize, “I am too fishy to be an amphibian,” some of us just jumped.  Later we didn’t say, “I can climb trees and gather fruit, who needs tools, you can’t learn everything;” some of us looked around.  At least that’s how I imagine it, there probably were some Luddites even then.

Don’t be afraid to evolve, or at least if you’re like me, don’t let that fear immobilize you.  If you start to feel too solid, too old or too dumb, move through it.  If you start to feel too comfortable, pepper that comfort with a little curiosity.

Rockmelt makes me uneasy, but it makes me feel excited too, because when it starts getting widespread I think people are going to be amazed.  And when I figure out how to unlock its potential I am pretty sure I’ll be amazed.  And when my one of you consults with me about building a more cutting edge Web 2.0 practice, I want to know what I am talking about.  So it’s “lean into the fear and discomfort” for me!

What are you being too solid about in your private practice?  What will you lean into this week?