Hear Jim’s 3-minute podcast:https://youtu.be/5hVQYJCcDMQ

or read his transcript below:

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Life, actually…

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ADRIFT IN THE MIDDLE OF SOMEWHERE

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I live in a Down South village filled with invisible delights.

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All around me, villagers young and ancient view the village through hand-held gadgets. They seldom glance up to see what the actual living three-dimensional village looks like.

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Images are stored for later evidence proving that they were actually present at the moment of snapshot.

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This is old hat nowadays. I have grown uncomfortably accustomed to strolling among beings who seldom make eye contact. I am invisible to them, they are husks partially present but hardly accounted for.

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Of course there are many exceptions to this bleak description I am sculpting. There are direct-contact people scattered everywhere. I enjoy our exchanges. We exist in a secret society parallel to the selfie tribes. We all get along mainly because we are in-person  communicators.

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So, what do selfies overlook? Surely the village is more than rectangular one-dimensional moments. And what do I miss when I am enjoying my day of experiencing real live people in real live life?

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Ah, the fragrances. That’s what we denizens of the open air miss when we record our surroundings. How do you selfie a fragrance, how do I describe to future villagers what an especially pleasant odor is like?

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Maybe that’s what we authors and diarists and poets are good at. Maybe there is a place for us. Maybe AI hasn’t yet taken over fragrances. If it does, don’t tell me.

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The same goes for touch (the warmth of a hug or a fist-bump or a high-whatever), for warmth and cold (describe freezing at a bus stop for 45 minutes). Can you snap a picture that makes you feel what inhaling and exhaling are like?

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Just a couple of randomly emerging thoughts that furrow my brow and excite my imagination. Send me a snapshot of your latest Aha! moment. It does require real-life thinking and sorting to work that out, doesn’t it?

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If I had my druthers I’d find a way to show you how much fun mind-trolling can be.

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At least I’m trying

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© 2026 A.D. by Jim Reed