I am tired of swimming. I’m so tired and I feel like my life is a constant game of catching up when it should simply be one of existing. I cannot possibly get as much done as I wish to and yet here I am, struggling to swim, struggling to keep my head above the water, to ignore my tired aching muscles that tell me to stop, to let go, to give in and sink effortlessly down.

I would rather float. I would rather lie on my back in a calm cool sea, hot sun baking down from above and exist in the moment. But the sea isn’t calm and I have to work hard simply to stay afloat.

But I will. And some time the sea will calm, the crashing waves becoming concentric ripples, the surface reflective like an enormous mirror showing off the beauty of the world. And then I will lie back and breathe deeply and feel thankful that I know how to swim, because the joy of floating is much greater when you’ve had to work hard to get there.

Now, most of us have cellular phones. Given that our phones are now with us all the time, you would think that we would communicate more effectively. You would think, wouldn’t you?

Common courtesy dictates that when someone leaves a message, we respond to it. Somehow, as our ability to communicate increases, our communication skills go the other way. While we have phones in our pockets and handbags, we select which calls to answer, which to ignore. When we are busy, we switch our phones onto vibrate or silent. Often, we forget to check who called and call them back. With Facebook, email, voicemail and text messages, you’d think that it would be simpler to get hold of someone. But I know people who simply never check their voicemail, receive so many emails that they can’t ever respond to all of them, go on Facebook strike on a regular basis, and somehow never answer their phones or respond to text messages.

I’m not going to pretend that I’m perfect. I occasionally forget to call someone back too. But as a rule, if a friend leaves me a voicemail, I will listen to it and call back. If they don’t answer, I’ll leave a message. I respond to text messages and emails. Even when I was taking a break from Facebook, whenever a message appeared in my email inbox, I would respond to it. I felt it rude not to.

I get it, not everyone wants to be connected to these technologies all of the time. But what happened to courtesy? It’s disappointing to call someone you genuinely care about, to send a well-thought-out email, and never hear back. I wouldn’t be calling you if I didn’t care. After three or four attempts, it’s hard not to take silence to heart.

This one is from our trip to Dublin. Andy started out by feeding her the majority of them…