Yesterday–computer announced that five of my passwords had been compromised here in Internet World.
I dutifully proceeded to change them.
No problemo, right?
This morning your blogger accidentally plugged in the wrong end of the camera-to-computer cord and froze the screen.
Figured out how to reboot the beloved bleep-bleep-bleep machine.
Upon reaching sign-in portal, said computer requested my password.
I airly typed in the oh-so-familiar password.
Wrong password, the computer archly responded, raising its eyebrow suspiciously at possible hacker.
Wrong password? But I have utilized this password forever!
I typed again.
Wrong one, girlfriend.
Again.
Nope, wrong.
Then an unfamiliar screen popped up requesting the password for live.com or some similar address.
Oh, oh. That sounded familiar to the compromised password which I changed yesterday. What had I changed it to? Ummm…?
Had written down all the other changed passwords, but this one…?
The computer got tired waiting for my memory and another screen arose.
“Wait a minute” it said while a white wheel circled round and round on a blue screen of hopefully not death.
Eventually Mr. Computer accessed backup information and announced a text message would be sent to my email account.
Unfortunately said email account is not used regularly.
I hurried to iPad and attempted to log into rarely-used email account.
An announcement on the main page stated: We are aware of the issues with our e-mail login page are actively working on a fix.
Really? Really?
Is this really happening this morning?
But I HAVE to use the computer NOW!
Fortunately, I accessed email, provided the secret code, reset my password, and wa-la here we are!
What does spirituality have to do with computer snafus? When things go wrong?
I am sure there is something perfectly smart and conceptual and wise that I could type–but this very moment the Holy isn’t revealing anything. I’m back to beginner’s mind and don’t know a darn thing.
Do any of you want to give it a try?
Tell us what spirituality has to do with computer snafus.
Maybe the Holy will speak through you today.
I think it has to do with our attitude, our way of perceiving, our feelings…but nothing is coming here except gratitude that the damn machine is cooperating. Thank you, Universe. Phew.
Day 51 of a seventy-five day journey to connect more deeply with God, Spirit, Holy, Love…to explore “What the Heart Knows” during the waning days of 2020.
Lake Superior Spirit 
Ah ha! The internet computer world playing the devil once again… These darn machine have captured our attention to distraction. These days we are even more drawn to the social media to be in contact with the outside world…
What’s Holy got to do with all of this, as you so wonderful express with this paragraph: “I think it has to do with our attitude, our way of perceiving, our feelings…but nothing is coming here except gratitude that the damn machine is cooperating. Thank you, Universe. Phew.” That’s what Holy has to do with things not going our way, things not seemingly right…
Acceptance of what is, doing what I can to fix the problem that is within my realm of action, than let go… We have not had heat for over 24 hours, it’s been 28 degrees out side overnight and not to get above freezing today…
Oh and yeah I had to go find this blog again… I’m not sure what’s up with that? I did get here, thank goodness.
Oh the devil computer–lol! Thank you for your affirmation about what the Holy has to do with our woes and things seemingly not going right. Acceptance is key. Man, Jeff, no heat for 24 hours! You have had quite a year of it. The Holy is really testing your muster. Maybe you might need to re-follow my blog or something? Not sure what’s up. But I am so pleased you take the time to go look for this!
Well I’m glad you were able to keep your wits about you and get it resolved. Which, possibly, is what the Holy wanted to show you. That you are capable.
Excellent suggestion, Dawn! Just happy it all got figured out. Phew.
What comes to my mind is something my youngest son once said, which became the title for one of my Gazing in the Mirror essays – “Crashes can be useful.” Might not always be able to see how it is useful at first though.
My sons were playing a game in Minecraft on an Xbox 360 game console and were saved from death and loss of their inventories by the game crashing. As my youngest excitedly explained to me – “crashes can be useful.”
Intrigued ? The essay is here – http://wp.me/p5vzL4-iO.
Glad everything worked itself out for you today.
That is a great line, Deb. “Crashes can be useful”. Even though our human minds would rather not see that. I was glad to read your essay again. Especially since I had completely forgotten it until now. So much depends on how we perceive things…
For me computer problems or other things that freak the creature mean: the holy reminds me to keep breathing otherwise the amygdala will grab all the oxygen and I won’t be able to figure out anything! ❤️
Ahhh, wisdom, Ms. Jodi! To remember to breathe. Yes, that is one we can tend to forget. So simple. Breathe…
Kathy, I had the same experience as you 2 minutes ago. WOW!
We are in synch it seems, Leelah! Hope everything is fixed fine & dandy once again.
Oh goodness, I wonder if it’s the week for weird computer glitches, passwords intrigue, and online theft? Went through this a few days ago when I attempted a phone credit card transaction, as the business did not have online services. I got a text right away from my credit card company asking if it was, indeed, me making the purchase. I replied “of course it is I” … Credit card company said “okay” and we tried again. The nerve! Declined again. Arrrggghhhh… Which resulted in an hour and 45 minutes waiting for and talking with credit card company, and resolving the issue. Called the business again the next day to try again, and all went well. Sigh! Had to laugh because I’ve been trying to “shop local online” and requested some of my Washington state’s kid’s favorite businesses out there. Credit card wondered what Yooper Mom was doing in Packwood, Washington, I guess.
Then, there was the day of the white screen, and I kept trying to fix it to no avail. A few hours later, all was working fine. I was certain I’d killed my computer somehow, but was glad none of my “trying to fix it” methods really did cause its death.
What I notice during these experiences is how very crazy I get thinking I have no access to my computer, to online shopping (especially THIS year), and how I become single-minded about fixing it all; everything else falling to the wayside, by golly, until everything is working right again. Jeeze. It’s not cool, but I think of some of your recent Holy blogs about God loving nonsense, and how we need not beat ourselves up, and, a while ago, your thinking you lost your purse experience. So, in the end, all it means to me is that everything is Holy — the Holy doesn’t disappear or hide when I’m being a nut job. It’s patiently waiting, ever present, for me to recognize it again, to wave to it, smile, and say “There you are.” Until the next time I get goofy … Sigh
Oh wise Susan Dee…”The Holy doesn’t disappear or hide when I’m being a nut job. It’s patiently waiting, ever present, for me to recognize it again…” Yes. Yes. There is nothing else I could type that could add to that sentence. Except it is so sweet that you are shopping online to buy local for your kids. I am sorry you had computer/credit card/telephone woes as well. Why oh why? That is a rhetoric question but one we sometimes just must ask. 🙂
Oh, how frustrating! Grr! Argh!
Grr! Ahrgh! Harrumph! Double harrumph!
I have no idea what spirituality has to do with computer snafus, except that in our family, if someone has a computer or internet problem the first question asked is, “Did you forget to make a sacrifice to the computer sprites this morning?” Yesterday all the pictures disappeared on my blog for a time. Panic! Refreshing the page didn’t help. Finally went over to tech support (husband) who found the blog pictures were showing just fine on his screen. By the time he came over to check my screen the mysterious problem had resolved itself…
Barbara, I read this comment a little while earlier and laughed for two minutes. Who knew we needed to make sacrifices to computer sprites? So glad you’ve got good tech support at your house. And that mysterious problems can resolve themselves… P.S. Got a beautiful Christmas card–my first–from a good blogging friend today. Thank you!
You’re welcome! 💙
Lol, Kathy! My more esoteric friends would check whether Mercury is in retrograde at the moment, as apparently that could be the cosmic cause for these weird instances when technology doesn’t work as expected, or when communication goes awry.. .:-D I am glad you got it sorted though.
That is so true, Reggie! I have friends who always ask if Mercury is in retrograde when things start going haywire. It was QUITE the day, but we made it through without missing a blog post!
Lol! 😀 Extra Well Done, Kathy! 😀
*chuckling* Thank you!
I rely on my devices to remember my passwords – which becomes a problem when I click on a link from something like Facebook and it does not take me to my browser, but instead to the web page within its own realm – or something I don’t really understand – where my password will not appear with my Touch ID. Uh oh. Second device comes into play, where I can look up my passwords, once my fingerprint has been accepted. Whew! Perhaps the whole reason for these devices is to keep us on our toes figuring out how to get work through their requirements.
Yep, Carol. We’re in a password technological maze. The computer gods are just trying to keep us on our toes. The question is–do we pass the test? Hoping so. And that the devices keep us online.
Maybe it’s the gratitude after all your hard work to resolve the issues. Or maybe it’s as you wrote, it’s in your attitude. An acceptance that this is how it’s going to be this morning. I don’t know about you but I often have to wait for that acceptance to come when I’m dealing with computer issues. They don’t rile me up as much as they used to, but there is still a past pattern there that I feel when I turn on the computer in the morning and things are not going/working as they should. I often wonder if living in such an isolated area comes into play since this is how I stay in touch with the world, especially now that we’re all kind of isolated.
Thought-provoking as always. Thank you. ♥♥♥
Robin, you know, I am with you about not getting all riled up like in the past. I can remember breaking out in a virtual sweat in early years. You also may be right about how our devices keep us in touch with the world in our semi-isolated lives and it feels kinda like we’re losing our connection when something like this happens. Glad you enjoyed. And once again–Happy Birthday!!
Remember my trouble with accessing my email account a couple of weeks ago? My glitch, said the computer, was that Javascript was not activated, yet it was. Voilà, now suddenly it works. Maybe the Holy is trying to tell us that we can’t control everything, no matter how much we plan. Sometimes we just have to wait for an answer. XOXO
I do remember the pain with your Javascript scenario, Stacy. Crazy. I do agree about the control issue. Sometimes we just have to let go and fly by the seat of the Holy’s pants. (smile) That’s a weird metaphor. 🙂
Yes, but it made me smile.
ditto with password snafus… but now i have a new book to write them down… i just hope i can find it the next time i need it… and somewhere inside i can chuckle still… 😉
or am i doing something else wrong, no idea if this is coming thru… somewhere???
Margo, I like it that you can still chuckle! It can be funny when we’re simultaneously snafu’d AND laughing at this silly world. So nice to see you here!
I am just glad things are working now. That must have been stressful!
Strangely enough, it wasn’t that stressful. I am not sure why, because sometimes things like this can be heart-poundingly awful. It really wasn’t so bad yesterday. Maybe the Holy knew I’d get a blog out of it, lol.
Bleepity-bleep-bleep would be my response to that frustration you endured. LOL.
Since you asked, I have a Holy computer experience I can share. Long ago, and oh so far away (back in Florida), my computer died. I spent the day crying, mourning its death. That night I had an unusual dream. To make a long story short, I dreamed I was immersed in a navy blue essence. Then it seemed like it was raining – but the rain was not water. It was raining sprinkles of light! They were like pellets of sleet sprinkling through the navy blue essence. I heard a voice that said the sprinkles were for healing. The next morning when I tried turning on my computer again, it worked fine!
Lol, grinning at that bleepity-bleep-bleep. Not sure why I didn’t get too frustrated when it happened. But thanks for sharing your own holy computer story. Love that you experienced the sprinkles and that they were for healing. (I believe when we share a dream we share its healing essence with whoever hears it, so thank you even more.)
Had something similar a few weeks ago, I changed the passwords but then the sites wouldn’t take the new passwords, so I reset to the old ones and it worked. 🤨
Bright Blessings
You know exactly what I am talking about then, Tilly! Thank you for sharing your similar experience. Hopefully our passwords are all secure now.
It’s just a simple reminder that if you thought you had everything nicely under control, YOU DIDN’T! I think the Holy likes us to remember that at times 🙂
I so agree with you, Sherry. Darn it. We humans just keep THINKING we’re controlling things. Not sure it works like that…even though we keep insisting that it does. Or at least our fears keep insisting.
Kathy, through the years I have learned to tame the knee-jerk reaction person when it comes to computers. When that ‘invalid password’ window/message pops up (always in red-which immediately gives me my dose of adrenalin for the day), I try one or two more times before giving in to the ‘OMG ITS AN EMERGENCY AND I GOTTA GET INTO MY COMPUTER’ mind set. Even then I force myself to step back and (yes, this is where my spirituality comes in) ask my guardian angel to help me solve the problem. It works.
Here are my computer rules:
Never have Facebook on my phone is #1. Every time I have used the app, someone has been able to hack my phone.
#2 I never put banking apps on my phone.
# 3 I use computer generated passwords. If you have a good browser you can see what your passwords are when need be.
#4 My computers and ipads are protected with Zone Alarm Extreme. I started using this product in the late 1990’s. To date, I have never had a virus or malware invade my computers. It is worth the subscription.
#5 I never store my credit cards on my phone. Yes, lots of apps make it easy to pay, but also can be easily hacked.
I love it when others tell me how awesome their security is. LOL Especially when comparing virus invasions. Be blessed.