In a recent interview I had for a service trip, my interviewer asked me, "Would you be OK with not having access to technology for the week?" I was appalled at myself when I answered, "Of course." She told me how many people would not continue to pursue a spot in the trip for this reason. It dawned on me the amount society has changed within the past few years with our lives constantly revolving around smartphones and laptops, and the reality of it is really heartbreaking.
On the surface, it seems as though people are just distracted by the technology they use daily, but there are so many worries such as social media usage and keeping relationships steady through text messaging that burden us regularly. Our minds become encapsulated in this whole digital world and we do not spend time appreciating things that are most important in our lives. Social media has taught us what apparently a perfect relationship is and then consequently allows us to neglect things that really are more important than another person's "relationship goals." If you were to look around you in a public area, socialization and simple human emotion and interactions are hindered because everyone has a smartphone to their face. Is this really what society should be like?
What I am proposing is not a complete and total boycott of anything that would classify as technology, but it is a proposal that someone close to me has been doing for awhile- try to use a flip phone. Ultimately, this will allow your mind to detach from its needs to constantly check twitter and update Snapchat. It would force you to really communicate with the people around you and actually connect with them emotionally in the most human way possible. You won't be neglecting people because you are too distracted scrolling through Instagram, but instead will really truly be enjoying the moments in which, yes, could have been captured on a nice smartphone, but will be much sweeter memories when you can really tell someone about them with passion rather than just show them a quick shot.
After seeing someone in my life do this, I realized how happy and carefree of a person they are. Their mind is never intertwined in between multiple social media apps and I always have their undivided attention to talk about anything and everything. Everything in life is done to make it memorable in the brain and done with passion to create a form of eternal happiness and satisfaction. It really brings more value to personal relationships when you can have human-to-human interaction, which it really what the body and soul crave. So for just a little, try detaching from the digital world and really go and experience life -- like a human.
