During my meet-up with friends just a few weeks ago, I found myself talking to them about a trend called social minimalism, what it’s all about and how it can help simplify life during the golden years. After a while, I could see them looking at me with vacant eyes. When I asked them if they understood what I was saying, they didn’t know what to say. I realized then I was going above their heads. Their minds simply couldn’t process what I was talking about.
Recently, a comedian was being interviewed live on a popular talk show. When asked a question, he suddenly could not speak and just continuously nodded while looking at the host who promptly went into a commercial break. After the break, the said comedian continued the interview as if nothing happened and explained that a similar instance happened to him during a taping held the day before.
These episodes are happening more and more. In digital technology jargon, it’s called “buffering” or “hanging.”
“Buffering,” in the most simple terms, is when your device pauses in the middle of a task with an accompanying text on the screen that says “loading…” This means your system is on hold and you need to wait until enough data is downloaded to allow the music or video stream to play without lag. I find it annoying, but I have to put up with it because my Internet speed is too slow.
On the other hand, “hang” or “freeze” happens when your computer does not respond to inputs no matter how much you press and click. It can result from faulty hardware, faulty drivers, or damaged components. The only solution is to reboot your gadget, which means shutting it down entirely and pressing the restart button.
In my circle of senior friends, we are now using the terms “buffering and hanging” in place of the passé “senior moment” to refer to lapses of memory. We want to sound more “tekky” to flex that we’re not lagging behind the times.
We may use the terms “buffering” or “hanging” as a form of teasing, a joke or even a default excuse for our memory lapses or our inability to express ourselves. But we should be more wary.
Among seniors, hanging or buffering could be a sign of an impending stroke, or a mini-stroke called transient ischemic attack. It could also mean the onset of dementia, or loss of brain function, such as Alzheimer’s disease, infections in the brain or perhaps, a brain tumor.
For young people, it could be a serious problem called “absence seizure”, which involves brief, sudden lapses of consciousness. The person may stare blankly into space for about 10 to 30 seconds, then he returns quickly to being alert. Afterward, there’s usually no memory of the incident.
What happened to the comedian we mentioned at the beginning was most likely a case of “absence seizure”. It can happen even in children. What if someone is driving a car or riding a bike when the seizure happens?
Expanding our perspective a little, what about the buffering and hanging episodes in our career or life in general?
The other day, a colleague was whining about the long lull in the projects he’s been nurturing. Nothing seems to be moving. None of the breaks out there are going his way. Why are other groups getting all the accounts?
My colleague feels the frustration of being stuck in a rut in which the wheels are spinning but the vehicle isn’t moving.
This reminds me of a couple of songs that talk about being stuck.
“Stuck On Neutral” is a song about someone who can’t seem to move forward. In other words, he is trapped in his own mind, so full of hesitation and doubt that he is unable to act. Do you feel this way?
Another song “Stuck on Repeat” by Little Boots fittingly describes a lot of my senior colleagues. Like a broken record, they tell the same story or joke every time we meet no matter how many times they’ve told them. They love to stay in the past. They’re not interested to learn new tricks.
But the song can also refer to relationships that become almost a cyclical pattern where you try to move on, think you have, and then you go right back. Some people never learn from their previous mistakes. Was it Albert Einstein who said that insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results?
“Stuck in the Middle with You” is a song from the movie “Reservoir Dogs.” It’s one of my favorites because it reminds me of a time when I was stuck in a situation I didn’t want to be in. I just played along, faking it. I wasn’t growing, my life was buffering for God knows how long.
These songs about the feeling of being entrapped have powerful truths that we may take away and apply to our own lives. They talk of times when we’re at our weakest and might need a compassionate nonjudgmental ear from someone who’s been there and knows what we’re going through.
But even when you’re stuck in limbo, don’t waste it. From a meaningless episode of hang time, turn it into a learning and insightful experience.
Ultimately it’s up to you to decide what needs to be fixed or to change, and then press that “force quit” option and reboot to make that change happen.