Are we really living if we aren't alive?
Sometimes we really just need to take a minute and notice where we are. Take a minute to be alive again.
Do you ever just stop and take a deep breath? Really pay attention to the temperature, the feeling, the smells, and the sights. I've realized that there are very few moments when this can happen nowadays. We seem to have lost the realization that life is a short, extremely special time that we should cherish.
I find I only feel able to really just let myself go and do this when I'm at places or with people whose presence gives me the most peace, when I’m not really worried about who is texting me at that moment.
This world and every one in it are becoming numb. Numb from feeling, seeing, living. We are dehumanizing ourselves with this technology and these people we don't really know and this music that has absolutely no feeling or emotion which, in my opinion, completely contradicts what life is. Though I do believe technology has opened up great doors for research and communication and arts it has also pushed us back from actual human contact. We as a society have become lazy, selfish, and perpetually unaware of our surroundings. What's the point in living if it's only so that we can tweet or instagram our every moment? I know many could call me a hypocrite right now because I do have at least one account for all the major social networking sites- Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, YouTube, etc. and I do text a lot. But that is how I have been able to reach this conclusion.
Texting, for example, is the worst. You don't know what someone is really thinking, feeling, doing, when they are texting you. It is up to you and your mood to decide what someone meant in a text. How is this communication?
I really noticed this when I was on vacation. I would always go away to visit my family and I looked forward to it so much. Whenever I went away I could escape from the world and its nonsense for a while and just appreciate life. But recently I've noticed this feeling wasn't there after my last few trips and I really didn't understand it. Now I have though. I spent the whole entire vacation last year glued to my laptop and cell phone. I felt like I’d be lost without one or the other and I couldn't bear to put them down for more than a second. These things were taking over my life, while at the time I thought it was great to have these devices that could keep me connected to anyone anywhere at any time, I didn't realize how much damage it was actually doing.
The time I could have spent walking on the beach-my favorite beach in the whole world- with my grandmother and her adorable dog that I love so much, I spent staring at my phone as my grandmother rambled on about how I was not paying attention to real people anymore. She couldn't be right though I was talking to real people, I was texting my best friends and tweeting about my every thought and action to other people in the world.
Then I realized, that half the time I spent texting my friends I had wasted on time that would have been spent learning more about the various places my grandmother lived and how she grew up. I started to notice that when I would get home from these vacations that were supposedly taking me away from life for a while, I ended up still feeling like I hadn't left home. I missed my family more than usual, and I missed their houses and the way they lived. But why, I was just there wasn't I?
That is what technology does. So I had gone away, but I spent the whole time stuck to my phone and only paying attention to what was going on so I could tweet about it. I missed out on enjoying the taste of the world’s best ice cream I can only experience once a year. Or walking on the beach, feeling the sand squish under my feet, watching the sun slowly set over the city, while feeling the breeze pick up and hearing the waves gently crash along the sand. But I’d been too busy staring at a screen to enjoy life.
And that is when I realized how much technology is harming our society- our lives. We don’t pay attention to anyone, and we don’t think or feel like we should. We just act and then what? We are left with our mistakes and unhappiness, but what does it matter if we can text our friends, right?
All I see are people moving through the motions, and no one stops. Have you ever actually stopped, put your phone/laptop/tablet down and just really noticed where you were?
I mean what is the point in living if we are not going to actually be alive?
I say it’s time for everyone to step away from the laptop and put down the phone for a few seconds. Stop what you are doing and take a deep breath, paying attention only to what is around you that very moment. Real things like the feeling of the ground beneath your feet, the temperature, the smell, and the sounds. This is what it feels like to be alive. The substances around us are permanent; the text sitting in your phone waiting to be sent is not. Appreciate being alive more, and great things will come of it.