Years ago when you got on the bus, entered a restaurant, went into the grocery store or walked into class or work, people’s eyes would be looking up at you. People would actually look into your eyes and greet you. Nobody’s necks would be strained in attempts to get the best look at their phones. Nobody’s focus was aimed more at a virtual world than the present world. And, most of all, these virtual worlds were completely nonexistent.
What? That’s insane! I know, people communicating without their noses pressed to a screen and without their eyes glazed during actual human interaction does seem foreign.
What happened to human relationships and living in the moment? Why are we so focused on others’ lives through social media, text and Snapchat that we cannot even fully commit to our own?
We don’t need to know everyone else’s every move. I mean, let’s be real. Knowing what my friends have for lunch or what they’re ordering at the coffee shop or how cool they are based upon their likes on Instagram is so unimportant in the grand scheme of things. And yet, I’m so guilty of pressing my nose against the glass of my cell phone and focusing on the things running across this tiny screen when what is right in front of me is so much greater. I continuously witness social media steal the moment. Social media becomes the star and the most popular kid on the playground. When in reality, we should be the stars of our own lives. Your best friend’s boyfriend or your sister’s friend’s little sister or your great Aunt’s co-worker’s puppy should not be your main focus. Nor should it be mine.
I want to look up from my phone from now on. I want to turn off the notifications, silence the noise and focus on the present rather than a perpetual future or someone else’s life that is not in the least bit more exciting than my own. Whatever is happening in your life right now is purely beautiful and contributing to the bigger picture. Whether you see your present as boring or uneventful, that’s OK. Life isn’t perfect or fair. It’s so flawed. But the good part is that within those flaws is beauty and we learn from mistakes, live it to the fullest and embrace even the most boring days. Because, as cheesy as it sounds, we only have one life. All we have Is now.
I do not want social media to swallow up the precious time I have when I could be celebrating every aspect of this life. Social media should not be the captain of our ships. Our phones should not outshine day-to-day events. We should not be breathing in the dust on our electronics when we could be outside breathing in the fresh air or even inside breathing in the same air of our friends and family. The life we have right now is so, so precious, and I feel as though oftentimes we completely lose sight of that when we hone in on the lives of others through this vicious time-waster we call social media.
So, let’s put down our phones and live in the present. Let’s stop giving into the trend of caring more about what’s happening in the lives of others when we have so much life to be living. Let's live by the popular saying and "live in the moment."
