We live in a country ruled by technology. This is the age of smartphones and GPS. It is the age of social media, where you can be kept up-to-date on the latest things happening in people's lives by stalking them on Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat. The ability to keep track of people has become so easy that we sometimes forget it was not always this way. We forget that having access to these social media accounts is not as easy as breathing and that wifi isn't something you can find access to everywhere.
Recently, I took a trip to the Poconos and stayed in a house without an internet connection. In order to keep from being the reason our family went over our data plan, I had to stay off these sites and away from my phone and I realized just how mindlessly we can be attached to checking them. It's interesting just how easily your fingers automatically glaze over the app icons even when that was not your intention at all. How mindlessly we can wander to the social media buttons when we feel bored or even while to multitask while doing something else. Despite a few slip-ups, however, I got over it and got used to not being on my phone the whole time.
What I realized by day three was that not being able to check social media was a breath of fresh air. It was nice to be present with the people I was with, and I didn't need to know what Susie Q was doing because I didn't need to. It didn't kill me not to go on Facebook to share thousands of videos of food that I will probably never make. It reminded me that life is not centered by these things and that we don't need them to survive. Social media should be seen as an aid not a way of life. It's nice to catch up and see where people are and what they are doing, but that isn't how friendships are built or maintained.
Technology is a great thing. It's brought us so many advances in our world and helped save countless lives, but also has come to ruin them too. It's important to remember that there was an age before smartphones and that we don't need them to survive. I challenge you to take the time to unplug from social media in your own lives. See how long you can go without checking the app. Maybe even delete the social media accounts that you rarely use, why keep them if you don't? Have conversations with those around you, don't rely on your phone to catch up on the days events when there are people around you to help you do so as well. By doing so we can be more present in our own lives and live better.
