Have you ever looked around a restaurant when you sit down to eat? Sometimes you notice an older couple quietly talking or a mother comforting her screaming baby, but what about our generation? The other day as I sat down to eat, I noticed a group of college-aged kids, not speaking to one another – all of them on their iPhones.
This sparked something in my mind that maybe we do not think about as much as we should. While we are staring at the screen in front of us, what are we missing going on around us?
We live in a world where we must constantly be “in-the-know” about every little thing going on in our “friends’” (who actually happen to be acquaintances) lives. Keeping up with old friends is something that social media is good for. Our close high school friends that live across the country don’t seem so far away and our aunts and uncles that we only see once a year are suddenly completely in the loop with our lives. Though all of this is good, there is still a time and place for everything.
For some reason people feel “naked” without their smartphones. When you walk into an awkward party where no one is familiar with each other, have you ever paid attention to what happens? After grabbing a drink and maybe saying hello to a few people, most guests will whip out their smartphones and catch up on the latest with their friends who aren’t even present. Having their phone in hand feels almost like a protection and a comfort when in a strange situation. Instead of branching out to the guests that they are unfamiliar with, people result to looking at a Twitter feed to check up on the latest.
I am sure we have all looked out our window at some point and seen a beautiful sunset or sunrise and thought, “I should Instagram this!” As you snap the picture, you begin to realize that the photo will never do what you actually saw justice. The photo is a mere projection of the real thing and it could never add up to what you just witnessed. This situation can almost be used as a metaphor for our everyday lives. Though technology is always convenient and seems like it wouldn’t cause an effect on someone’s life, it almost takes away from the beauty of relationships and the overall quality of the things you experience.
The problem in our lives does not come from owning a smartphone, it doesn’t even come from the comfort that the smartphone may seem to give us. The problem comes from us as individuals. The addictions we have to our phones can make us distracted from living in the moment and sometimes even make us self-centered. The more we work toward putting aside technology and exchanging it for building relationships with the people who surround us, the better off we will be. What we don’t realize is that a memory is more powerful than any kind of picture we can capture or any kind of text we receive.
Don’t miss out on the fun of a party because you can’t seem to tear yourself away from your phone. Listen to your friend sitting across from you at the lunch table even when you have incoming texts. Capture memories with your mind instead of a camera.
Life is too short to be staring at a phone screen!