Plugged-in and so vastly tuned-out

dear sistah brothahs on Planet E….

is it just me or is it annoying to you too that peeps are walking ” zombies” glued to their hand-held computer screens; does anyone ever make eye contact walking down the street anymore?

is it just me or do u feel annoyed too when you have to be extra careful while driving because the pedestrians are crossing the street NOT looking at anything BUT their screens

is my annoyance because i am old? is it because my life doesn’t fully revolve around the screen in my hand?  I feel sad watching distracted parenting- where the device is far more important then the child or children sitting across from these parents.

I feel sad watching people out together in a restaurant; cafe; or standing in line for a movie, and  not speaking to one another because whatever is on their screen is far more fascinating, engaging, urgent then being with who they are with; in real time, not cyber-land time.

Do people make love/have sex, with their devices held over the shoulder of the other person?  Please do fill me in on this as I do not know about this new intimacy.. pardon the oxymoron. Intimacy and handheld device ..yup, oxymoronic.

In becoming this detached and cut off from our real-time environment, to the people in our lives, to the world that is alive and happening all around us, the most precious moments of  living, breathing life are being missed; utterly and completely. Like taking pictures incessantly during your holiday without really taking in, feeling where you are.

The therapy rooms may be filled someday with speechless and lost people who spent their lives living in a world inside a tiny screen; not learning how to engage with the life around them; or thinking they were fully engaged only to look up and notice an entire relationship slipped away unnoticed;  got up and left the table, walked out the door, slid down the street, hoping to find someone to connect with, to notice them.

Penguins

I know it is not black and white…but it is challenging to find the

middle ground…sigh..yes one more judgment from moi about my world view.. LOL I guess I didn’ t get the memo that I am not in charge.

 

This Post Has One Comment

  1. Janani Bev Noia June 21, 2016

    I love this! I have the same reactions when I see the disconnect of all the connected! I thought it was just a fad and would pass, but that was several years ago, so I guess I was wrong.

    I am a photographer, so I know just what you mean when you say “Like taking pictures incessantly during your holiday without really taking in, feeling where you are.” On the job, it was my duty to keep the camera clicking or whirring, and I did so conscientiously–and because of the work I did (with Amma and Embracing the World) this sometimes meant I was videoing while someone was dying in a disaster–it was my duty. Or while Amma was melting into samadhi–it was my duty. But I would review the video footage later, and THEN cry–it was my chance. Both mattered, but I can tell you, if I could do only one, it would be the latter, the real ‘being there’, not the Camera Operator. Now (when away from Amma’s world) I discover I almost never think of using a camera–for I’ve learned first hand how much more precious the real experience is than its record.

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