If you have never been to Disney World for New Year's, I highly suggest you do so. It was a big family thing, and it was by far the most exciting trip for me last year, but there was one downside:
I didn't have a phone to capture anything.
And it wasn't like I accidentally left it at home, or the battery died, and I had forgotten the portable charger. I literally have not owned a cell phone for almost six months. So, while everyone else was whipping out phones to snap pictures, I held on to the kids' hands and appreciated the view.
It was a serious struggle for me. I wanted to be Snapping and Insta-storying the mess out of my Disney vacay, only it wasn't happening. I got some good pictures using the hub's phone, and I posted them to Instagram. But you understand me, right? There is something about being able to post the perfect Boomerang of you eating a Mickey Mouse-shaped pretzel.
On New Year's Eve, we made our way to Magic Kingdom, which was so packed with people that for fireworks, it was standing room only. I stood rooted to the spot as I watched the show. The thunderous noise rattled my brain and caused a ringing noise to fill my head. There were stars in my eyes as they quickly adjusted from darkness to light and back to darkness. The crisp air and the atmosphere sent chills up and down my back. I was on complete sensory overload, and it was incredible.
All around me, though, people were disconnected. Many of them had earbuds in their ears, listening to their personal playlists, blocking out the commotion. Most had phones aimed at the night sky, looking at screens as they tried to catch on camera something that was made for their eyes take in. It hit me that, of the thousands of people there, very few of them were experiencing this magical moment like I was, and it made me sad.
Simon Sinek has a video on YouTube talking about millennials in the workplace, and he touches on technology. He explains that our generation has been raised in the midst of a social media phenomenon and that all of the texts, likes, and followers generate dopamine in our nervous system. In other words, the same chemical released by sex, gambling, alcohol, and drugs is being aroused by a tiny DING. Which means we are becoming addicted to the devices that make us feel good. Instead of relying on alcohol and drugs for highs, our generation is being doped up by retweets.
Basically, we are turning into the blue-clad passengers in Wall-E, sitting by the pool and sipping our Big Macs through straws. We FaceTime people all day long without knowing that our friends are depressed. We drink the cupcake in a cup without the experience of smearing icing on our faces. We talk about going to the virtual golfing range without knowing what a club feels like in our hands.
When will we fall out of the floating chairs and break the flow? When will we realize that life is passing us by as we scroll through someone's else's? When will we understand that life is about people and not about pictures?
And how many of us will put the phone away in order to really live?
