Archives for July 2026

Screen Addiction

July 12, 2026 By admin

It’s not your imagination. We, baby boomers, are spending an inordinate amount of time looking at our computer screens and cell phones. Back in 2019, Pew Research found the 60 and over crowd spent more than half their leisure time (about 4 hours and 16 minutes) in front of screens (mostly online videos). Currently, Nielsen reports that adults 65 and over watch YouTube on their TV twice as much as 2 years ago. Over-50 Americans spend 22 hours per week in front of a screen. One survey found that 40% of adults 59 to 77 say they are anxious or uncomfortable without access to their devices.

I’ve noticed that when I spend time with other boomers in social situations, there is always at least one person who cannot put their phone down and actively responds to texts while trying to remain part of the conversation.

Experts believe that much of the screen-time concerns we face now are rooted in the pandemic, which pushed all of us into greater tech adoption. We Zoomed and adopted other tech resources in order to retain our sanity while trapped in our cocoons.

The same experts believe that not all screen time is equal, especially among boomers. Much of our time online is related to better cognitive function, such as word games, instructional videos, and ordinary conversation with friends and family. For many boomers, tech engagement prevents isolation and loneliness, so there is that distinct upside.

How do you know if you’re getting addicted to your screen devices and when is it all too much? So called soft-brain scrolling AI slop on Facebook all day is quite different from watching a video to learn how to play a guitar. The slop is so pervasive now that it gets scarier by the day. It’s not hard to see some boomers get caught up the lies and falsehoods after watching Shrimp Jesus because they saw it on Facebook.

If you or your boomer friends lack healthy outlets, hobbies and friendships, it’s easy to understand the allure of the screen. The only advice is put down the phone, shut off the computer and seek help before its too late. Of course you’ll have to Google where to find help before you shut down the iPhone.

Jay Harrison is a writer and creative consultant for DesignConcept. His most recent mystery novel, Rio Puerco Demise is available on Amazon. His first mystery novel, Head Above Water, is also available on Amazon. But that’s not all. You can also purchase the Best of BoomSpeak on Amazon.

Moving Out

July 12, 2026 By admin

When I was a kid moving was exciting…an adventure. There was the busyness of packing and loading and unloading and trundling into new places. I’m older now. Quite a bit older. And the prospect of moving into a senior center is not so much exciting as inevitable while adding the hope of new adventures after my staid condo existence. I’m looking forward to an indoor swimming pool and an outdoor garden and a medley of exercise classes. Not to mention a broad swath of residents. The only problem is, they’re all old people. Huh! I should know because for many years I showed a movie once a month to these nearby-neighbor residents. I always prided myself as being a very open minded and generous young man by connecting with these senior tenants. It was a fulfilling experience. The only problem, now, is that I’ve evolved into the age frame of that long-ago audience, no longer the accommodating youngster leading post-film discussions. Huh!

So, now instead of being a once-a-month guest presenter, I’m the audience. Never was good at role reversal. But, I guess I gotta be prepared to give the new-presenter a chance. I wish him well and hope he’s open to the insights waiting to come from wise residents who pick up things from their perspective that I often missed…a lot shared and learned.

I’ve spent a number of years as a resident in various ‘group-live-in’ settings from camp counselor to college student. So, it’s not like I’m unused to the idea. It’s just that these days I’ve gone beyond that level of togetherness and the pleasure of shared meals and bagged laundry. I guess it’s a rather unique situation to have lived, literally, across the street from a place from its opening day ceremony to ongoing film appreciation discussions over many years. Only now, I’m a consumer rather than a provider. Continuity.

I didn’t expect to find anyone still around from my previous involvement…but actually, I did catch a glimpse of one lady recently. Maybe there will be other alumni to see and connect with. Mostly I hope to get more of the best that our cinema discussions provided. Those seniors so easily shared insights triggered by the films about war and family and romance. I learned much from the group that I will soon be joining and look forward to drawing from their abiding aggregate wisdom.

I wonder who the presenter will be.

Retired trainer, and writing instructor, Joe Novara lives in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Writings include novels, short stories, a memoir and various poems, plays, anthologies and articles. Read more at https://freefloatingstories.wordpress.com/

Musings on the River

July 12, 2026 By admin

Many great literary works make some reference to water. Rivers run through stories and generally represent the movement of life. The constant movement. Change.

After crossing the Rio Grande hundreds of times in my car, over the bridge, I was shocked to go down the banks one day and see how rapidly it is actually moving. From even a short distance above, it appears to be totally stagnant. It is anything but. It is, like all rivers, charging hastily forward, downward, to its home in the ocean.

Greek philosopher, Heraclitus, said “No man steps in the same river twice.” (I would say “person” of course.) And it’s true. But what does it really mean? That the river is always moving? That life goes on? That you don’t get a second chance to correct a mistake? Or to relive a happy time? If you try, it won’t be the same. Something will be different. Everything will be different. Try it more times – different again. Different every time. Read a book again. See a movie a second time. It’s no use; you can’t recapture what you had before.

You can’t go home again. Thomas Wolfe said that and used those words as the title of a novel. I would say it means the same thing. Home, whatever that is, is gone, when you leave it, except in your memory. Return to your old elementary school. You will be shocked at how it seems to have shrunk in size. The river just keeps on flowing and we flow with it. Or fight it if we’re fool enough to try.

Also attributed to Heraclitus: the only constant in life is change. (He clearly gave this subject a lot of thought.) A silly joke; a play on words? Hardly. No, it’s the truth. I know some people who cannot, will not, change. They wear their hair and their makeup the same way they did 40 years ago. They think they look the same. But they don’t. The hair might look the same, but the face under it, like Dorian Gray’s picture in the attic, is changing. Best to change with it. Accept this as a fact of life.

Or fight it if you’re fool enough to try. But heaven help you.

None of this is bad news, I think. It’s o.k. You’ll live, at least for a while. We’ll all live. Let it go. Let it be. Just roll with the river.

From the Best of Boomspeak, April 2019

Norma Libman is a journalist and lecturer who has been collecting women’s stories for more than twenty years. You can read the first chapter of her award-winning book, Lonely River Village, and an excerpt from her new memoir, The Story of the Story, at NormaLibman.com