It’s in the Details

One of my friends shows his Instant Messenger status as “Away” all the time. I mean ALL the time, not just alot of the time. His status is never “Available,” even when he is at his computer.

This reminds me of an experience that took place one summer day when I was in junior high. My friends and I walked to a small amusement park that was less than a mile from my house. We were there for quite a while and as we were leaving we met some cute guys in the parking lot. I don’t remember how long we stayed and talked to them but I was aware I was going to be late for dinner.

Now, you might not be thinking this, but this was back when there were no cel phones. If I were going to be responsible and call my mom to let her know I was going to be late I would have had to walk away from the excitement, and we all know that walking away from something like that seems to break the magic and when you come back it’s all over. So, there was no way I was going to walk away to call my mom.

When I got home my mom was furious because she didn’t know where I was or if something bad had happened to me. The first thing that went through my mind was “I knew I was ok so I knew there was nothing to be worried about.” My mom didn’t appreciate that remark.

In the same way, my friend knows if he’s at his computer. He knows if he’s available but no one else knows that. When I look at my buddy list, under his name it says “Away” and next to his name is a big red dot that screams “STOP.” It has been this way for several months.

He recently told me that he’s been stressed, which usually means he is having money issues. I have to think “well, sheesh, by posting that away “sign” to the world you are sending out the vibration of “I am not here for anyone. No wonder your revenue stream has slowed down.”

Our Instant Messenger status is not talked about in classic Feng Shui, but man, all those little details in our lives do send out harmonious or discordant vibrations. It’s been said that “design is in the details.” With design, paying attention to small details—and in some cases, obsessively focusing on “what isn’t right”—can take a design from “nearly there” to “there” and beyond.*

Perhaps it’s time to ask that our eyes become open to something we perceive is ok in our life that others are seeing differently.

*Design is in the Detail by Naz Hamid