We are married to our phones. Heads down, text neck (it’s a real thing- https://www.spine-health.com/blog/modern-spine-ailment-text-neck) in full effect.
There’s a world out there! Full of sights and sounds and heat. Full of people that can enrich your life. Make you so full of love and hope and joy.
But we are confused.
We want intimacy and anonymity.
We want proximity and distance.
We want love. And lack of obligation.
We want it now but without the work it takes to build something long term.
We want perfection and not humanity.
We want respectable and not nuanced.
We are enabled, engulfed, and hypnotized by technology.
Technology can’t replace the feel of someone’s skin. Or the feeling in your stomach when you are close to someone you love. Or a smile. Or eye contact. It can simulate. But not replace.
Technology can provide solace from sensory overload. A chance to be alone in a busy world. Or privacy. And there are some benefits. We can share and be connected with people very far away from us.
But we can’t lose the ability to be brave in the real world. Solace isn’t good if it creates isolation and avoidance.
We have to stay in touch with reality while being immersed in the virtual. You can go for a hike or watch the sunrise or listen to live piano. You can hold someone or pet a dog. Or build something. A garden. A treehouse. A magnificent table setting.
I’m not the one to say what is real or not for you. But I for one want to have my head up, to see the world and the people in it, and preserve my connection to this wondrous existence.
