A Screen For Every Moment

That is what the ad outside the electronics store said: A screen for every moment. And all I could do was roll my eyes and acknowledge the way that all of this marketing is fueling our device addicted society. People are no longer LIVING life, they are Instagramming and Facebooking it as a means of receiving validation by way of "Likes" and "Followers". There is no amount of hi-def, photo shopped filtered technology that can make these screens true reality, but its come so close that most people can no longer discern one from the other. It upsets me to no end when I see small children being wheeled around in strollers holding little screens with bright, shiny simulations of life that are more interesting than the actual real life around them. People do not look UP anymore. Their "Life" fits in the palm of their hands and no human body that may also be moving in their path is important enough to acknowledge. They might miss a tweet if they put their devices down long enough to make eye contact, smile, or simply say "Excuse me" as they pass by. Being "connected" has made it so much harder to actually connect.

Where is this all coming from? A few things:

1. BF1 came up for a visit after having not seen him in months. We played a card game, ate a home-cooked meal together, cuddled on the couch and had the kind of deep conversations that foster a sense of trust and bonding between people. It was AWESOME! And then...

2. We went to the mall and true to the usual mall experience I was filled with an immediate disgust for "humanity" before we even parked the car. All leggings, Ugg Boots and sparkly clothing aside, the general demeanor of people in this setting enrages and horrifies me every time, no matter how often we see it. It was like walking through a hoard of Zombies to get through the food court and into the specific department store we were going to for a specific item. Even those without devices in hand walked with their heads down and eyes glazed over without realizing that their were other people who were also walking in the same area. People would stop suddenly, turn in unexpected patterns and generally behave as though they were completely alone in this crowded space. The level of self-centeredness exhibited in such places, in my opinion, is just a reflection of the way that people have decided that their lives are only as big as the screens they view them on and all other living, breathing bodies are merely inconveniences they encounter between status updates.

And 3. Despite my own lack of a "smart phone" I'm feeling myself becoming addicted to the screens. I was sitting in the bathroom (TMI, sorry) and the thought came to me that I am spending too much time scrolling news feeds, flipping through channels and otherwise seeking digital stimulation rather than doing actual THINGS. I cooked an amazing Southwester mac and no-cheese casserole yesterday. I did the laundry, vacuumed the house and cleaned the bathroom. We played a card game we'd heard about and talked about personal revelations and processing and reflected on how far we have come since this time last year... But as soon as BF1 was out the door I was back on my laptop, mindlessly scrolling through Tumblr. There are new gemstones in my beading kit collecting dust. (I started making bracelets a few months ago.) There is a great book I started weeks ago on my nightstand that has a only shifted to make room for my water bottle at night. ("Middlesex" by Jeffry Eugenides) There are little piles of paperwork that needs to be filed or shredded accumulating in the sun room... But what do I do with my time off? I log on and tune out and it's not okay.

This winter has been long and cold. Technically it's actually Spring at last but we're expecting yet another storm early next week. I'm still gaining weight and wishing it would get warm enough to go out walking on the trail by my house..

And the most ironic part is that technology is allowing me the opportunity to type this out as I process it rather than scribbling it down in another notebook. There will be no ink stains on my hands when I am done. Being a left-handed writer who has been journaling since long before the MySpace days I am all too familiar with the down side of putting it down on paper the 'old fashioned way.' Firefox catches any misspellings that may make me look less articulate than I might, and I know that a simple "ctrl+C" and "ctrl+V" will allow me to transfer this from my Tumblr to my blog and then back again.

I am not begrudging technology, but lamenting the behaviors surrounding it and admitting that even I have had too much "screen time" and not enough "face time" as of late. So it's time to wake my napping Mr. and prepare for our date with... *ugh* I'm so bad at thinking of nicknames for people... our date with a guy we went out with once last year who we decided was worth another shot. If it goes well I'll come up with a nickname for him.

One last thing. This is what I posted on my Facebook earlier this weekend that sums up a lot of the topic for me:

I am not "connected" like most people in the world are today. I still text in 10 key on my flip phone and prefer face-to-face conversation (when possible) to digital communication. Technology can be great, but I hate the 'addicted to the screen' behaviors that people often exhibit. I refuse to be a slave to technology...

That said, I always wonder if people think I'm rude or a bad friend for not posting on a wall on a birthday or for not "liking" an important, life-event kind of status. I know I'm not great at staying in touch with those not right here in my day-to-day life anymore but I just want to be sure that it's clear that it's not personal, it's just that I truly try to stay so busy living life that I don't always take the time to pull out a device to document and share it with the world. I'm still working on being totally present in present time, as my mother might say, but those who are not part of my world in this moment will always be part of my heart, my path and my story. My Mr.once told me that it seems I never truly lose friends but that everyone just orbits around me in their own path, coming close for a moment then circling around again another time. I like that imagery...

That status update got 23 likes and 13 comments. *Sigh*