Screens. We are surrounded by them every day. Whether it is a television screen, an iPhone screen, or a computer screen, we are somehow always enticed into them. We interact with them on a daily basis. You may catch up on your favorite series on Netflix, or check your Instagram occasionally throughout the day. Whatever means we use, we cannot deny the fact that the screen plays a major role in our life. But do we realize how much of an influence the screen plays in our life? I’m not quite sure.

I could be sitting in my house at night with the rest of my family, and we could all be in front of a different screen. I can visualize it now, my mom watching her favorite home improvement show in the family room, my dad watching a sci-fi show on Netflix in his office. I’m sitting on the couch in the family room scrolling through Instagram. I finally pull my eyes away from the screen to look up and take in what is happening around me. We are a family who is in the same house. Yet we are so disconnected by the screen we chose to engage in. One screen has the power to lure us in to further disconnectedness.

You would think that being in the same vicinity as a person would promote some kind of bonding. On the contrary, being in the same room as another person just simply isn’t enough anymore. When we are sitting in front of our screen, who are we really engaging with? The person beside us, or the screen itself? Unfortunately, I would have to say the latter.

Instead of simply sitting front of a TV screen under the impression that a relationship is being built with another person, engage with them. Pick up the remote, pause the TV, or turn off your iPhone (or put it in another room if you need to!), and simply ask them a question. Technology has slowly been taking away our ability to have quality conversations, and I think we need to have that awareness. Maybe that one question can start a whole conversation you weren’t even expecting. The possibilities are endless.

Once you have the power to step away from the screen, you can engage in the world around you. As much as we hope that life can be like our favorite TV show or celebrity, it’s not. We need to realize that reality is in the person we’re with, or the world outside the door, not in the screen we invest so much of our time into.

So I want to challenge you. Take a step back. Realize the power the screen has in your life, and do something about it. It could be one of my ideas, or any of your own. The goal is still the same: engage in the world and build relationships.