the big leagues are calling

We get more calls than we used to.In medieval times, your life would revolve around the few calls you got. You would wake to the rooster’s call, heed the call to prayer, gather with the town crier’s call, and occasionally be called to arms—all'arme in Italian, literally the source of the word alarm. The expectation was that you would answer the call: to refuse was to bring shame upon yourself.Today, we are inundated with calls—friends, spam, countless push notifications—each demanding our attention throughout the day. With these calls, you are always presented with the option to accept or decline. There is a certain feeling of guilt that comes with declining. I feel terrible when I don’t respond to a friend’s message, or leave an email unanswered. Each time we choose not to engage like this, the shame gets repressed. Somewhere in the depths of my subconscious, the unanswered obligations are probably eating away at me, making me slightly more anxious throughout my day.With billions of…