CONNECTEDNESS

Have you ever thought what today would have been like if you didn't have your phone right at your finger tips, your laptop on the charger across the room, your wifi automatically connected? You probably haven't because it's become a norm for the world we live in now. While it is great that these devices can provide us with instantaneous messages and a platform for business or genuine causes, these devices can also rob us of feeling grateful for the real present moment we live through every single day. 

I can remember when I was a child and I would only ever step foot inside if it was to eat or to sleep. I remember connecting with people face to face and building irreplaceable relationships. I remember soaking up every single second of every new experience without having to pull out my phone and take a mindless photo for aesthetic purposes. I remember going to school and handwriting notes and feeling a little thrill to beat the person next to me, and no computer or phone was needed in that moment. I remember picking up the telephone connected to the landline and talking to my friends for hours on end about anything and everything, no texting could have captured those priceless conversations. 

I walk around and I see people having lunch together but not actually talking or connecting in real life. Instead, they hold their phones in their left hand while they eat with their right and occasionally exchange a smile. I see parents with children and rather than holding their child's hand as they glide down the slide, they sit on a park bench filming it for their instagram or snapchat story. I see families having conversations through facebook comments and text messages rather than sitting around the kitchen table and asking how everyone's day was. I see people adding to their instagram stories and documenting every moment of their daily lives, and they aren't actually physically embracing the present moment. 

"In a world of algorithms, hashtags and followers, know the true importance of human connection"

When we look at life through a screen, we can never fully appreciate something simple and meaningful like our breath, thoughts or emotions - we can never truly appreciate the greater things in life like our family and friends. The basis of our lives was built on human connection, we naturally crave it. If we let technology and social media creep further into our lives and the inner-workings of our minds, then the basis of our lives starts to become malnourished. It can be as simple as sitting down and having a conversation with someone you have been meaning to reconnect with, just start talking. Listen and take in every word the person is saying, acknowledge every sentence exchanged. The more you learn and connect, the more your soul becomes nourished and fulfilled.

"The more I connect with people in real life, the more I have conversations and see their strengths, their beauty and their imperfections, the more I realise we're all alike. We're all human. We're all trying. And the images we see online aren't the full picture: no matter how authentic the author, an Instagram post can't replace real connection" - Brooke McAlary   

A screen cannot replace the full extent of an experience. There is so much beauty in the world around us that is worth paying full attention to in the here and now - nature, art, music, stories, rain, sunshine - and no amount of screen time could ever compensate. I encourage you to savour each moment you move through, pay attention to how you are making that cup of tea, to how refreshing it feels to have a clean house, to the meaning behind the lyrics of your favourite song, to what you can hear and see when your on your morning walking. Take it all in and reconnect. 

Put down your phone and open your mind to connectedness.