When is the point where so many options stop being a good thing? Friends of mine, and some random people whose posts I read on the internet, are complaining of tiredness. Those who look for professional help are unfortunate enough to cross paths with unprepared doctors confusing the symptoms of exhaustion with depression, but this new condition people are experiencing goes beyond depression – no one can take that much information anymore. And I am always, always thinking about that.

One of the books I’m currently reading is Cartas to Jane Austen (Letters to Jane Austen), and the liveliness of the period when Jane lived haunts me every night when I go to bed. They had time to write letters, they liked to plan long walks for the next day. If someone wanted something (a fabric, a paint, a book…), they would ask a travelling friend to buy it, and then they would wait for weeks (if not months) to receive the object they had ordered. Today I buy things on Amazon and receive them the very next day.

People of the 21st century are proud to say they don’t have time. But to me, it just seems that they stopped living – nothing matters anymore to anyone. No one walks in 2025, they take an Uber instead. People don’t wash the dishes, they don’t clean their homes. Machines do all the service. People don’t talk to people.

Who do you know today that can draw? When Jane Austen lived, that was a very common skill as well as playing the piano. Now, reading a simple book might as well be considered an act of terrorism (my apologies for not putting into words all my thoughts on the matter, I’m still trying to understand how we ended up in a world where even Brazil’s post offices don’t open on Saturdays anymore).

Anne Rios

amodafala@gmail.com