The Zen of the Internet

The Zen is the contemplation and meditation of something. It is a word known to the Buddhist tradition but is trending in Western tradition. Nobody denies the leap in technology over the last twenty-six years, we're smitten with it. We cannot get enough of the Internet. It has evolved from the simple system of links to a complex inter relational database of systems, apps, and websites.

Interacting on the Internet has a process. Everyone will have a different process. This article outlines a process based on personal experience. The Internet gained popularity in 1990, when the personal computer came into existence. Browsers, operating systems, and hosting companies sprung to life to offer systems we could use from a personal computer.

The resource of information on the Internet, or the World Wide Web as it was called connected people via the network cables and we were "in the cloud" having conversations and sharing information.

Weaving the Web

The history of the Web is fascinating and it is worth reading the book Weaving the Web by Sir Tim Berners-Lee. His efforts and teamwork gave us the concept of the web. The Web is an abstract concept, a placeholder of information that depends on a system of cables and connections through computer language called HTML.

Behind the scenes of the web is an unintelligible amount of hypertext markup language that translates into what we see as we go onto the web and access websites. The scripting language of computer code is complex, until you unravel it and learn to code if you like that sort of activity.

In case you think it's only a male activity, it's for females as well. The brain doesn't know if a woman or a man is operating it. You're the one operating your brain.

My preference is the front end of things, the meaning, and the vehicle through which to express ideas and information. To share knowledge and learn from others.

The purpose of meditations.solutions is the experience of orchestrating ideas, then validating the ideas through writing to demonstrate the concepts. The Internet is the vehicle through which we have the opportunity to orchestrate, validate, and demonstrate.

Orchestrate

What do you have to compile to come to terms with the Internet.
Orchestrate the mind, the thoughts in contemplation and meditation. The ancient practice of meditation is still relevant. If you cannot find the thread of wisdom for the actions you take on the Internet, you lose yourself in the black hole of social media, and app driven things you must do in order to:

• Have a following
• Grow your visibility
• Become an authority
• Publish an eBook
• Create a website
• Have profiles on:Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, SnapChat, and don't forget to find the latest app on AppSumo. 
• Use scheduled Social Sharing apps to post articles to Twitter and LinkedIn to put yourself "in front" of people.

When you orchestrate, you arrange and organize a situation or event for a desired outcome. This is the Zen. The time spent in contemplation and meditation to find the solution to what you're orchestrating about your presence and participation on the Web.

If you're disorganized and do 'best practices' because this is what you should do, then there's no thought behind the activity.

No matter how much instruction, without the labor involved to validate your contemplation, nothing translates into a meaningful activity. You must validate your thinking. Test your thinking and put it in writing.

Validate

Put it in writing. Starting is easier than finishing. Just go to the app for project lists. It used to be a joke, "there's an app for that." Now there is an app for almost anything you want to do, it turns up as a browser extension or a seamless, cross platform app used on all your devices.

Writing is something everyone does. Whether you like it or not, you're constantly writing and responding to emails, participating in forums. There is a volume of validation pouring out of you as you communicate on the web, in writing.

Time has to be spent validating what you're communicating. We're not all published authors, even though you can self-publish an eBook overnight. The test of writing is a simple one: does it make sense to the reader.

Writing on the Web is different. You have to think about the person who is reading what you wrote. The amount of content you write is not important. It's the quality you need to produce. Are you writing for a search engine or a human being?

Demonstrate

Show me don't tell me.  The sales talk is the selling of free, this doesn't work anymore, unless you're vulnerable.

When you contemplate and reflect you actually slow down to think. Technology and all things about the Internet is racing on, but we have to slow down to catch up with technology.

It may sound contradictory, but it is the Zen, the contemplation and reflection that brings you  knowledge and the wisdom to know how to integrate your life and include the Internet. If you relegate your thinking to someone else to tell you what to do, make sure it is right for your purpose as you use the web.

No one is forced to use the Internet. We participate because we want to. It is necessary to develop the skills to operate technology as we now use content management systems, apps, and data management.

It's essential we adopt the contemplative approach to the Internet. When we think about what we are going to do and how we want to do something, you'll do it your way. The way that makes sense to you, because you spent time in the Zen of the Internet.

Meditation is an ancient practice, so ancient no one really knows when it began. You can trace the origins of Meditations into the Buddhist tradition. Meditation isn't reserved for Buddhist monks. To meditate you don't have to imitate a tradition, you have to be willing to sit in silence and listen to your thoughts.

At first you'll do it for a few minutes, each day until you get tired of it and go looking for an app to help you out. You'll claim the app does wonders, and then you'll fade out and abandon meditating, because you need nothing to meditate with. No music, perfect surroundings, or aromatic therapy, just silence.

No one qualifies who and what you are according to a data statistic based on Google analytics or heat maps to find out what a person does when they're on a website. The intelligence of the visitor to a website should always be respected.

You must find your Zen of the Internet. What is the orchestration, validation, and demonstration of your activity on the web?

The solution

The meditation of the Zen of the Internet is your solution.