Literature Network » E.M. Forster

You have the right to remain silent: your cell phone is ringing. Your in-box is overflowing. Your friend wants to discuss her son's glue-sniffing habit. Martha Beck has news for you--you don't have to be there for all people all the time. Just fol

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From: O, The Oprah Magazine
Date: 20041201
Author:Beck, Martha

THIS MONTH I SET OUT TO write a thoughtful essay on the art of disconnecting. My thesis: The great English writer E.M. Forster may have valued connection above all else, but for us 21st-century folks--with our jam-packed Rolodexes, e-mail from intimates and strangers, phone messages left by friends, colleagues, passing acquaintances, and the occasional deranged stalker--disconnection is as necessary as connection for creating a healthy, happy life. When we force ourselves to connect against our heart's desires, we create false, resentful relationships; when we disconnect from the ...

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