Making Connections That Matter

In the past few decades, we have quickly become a tech-dependent culture. We rely on our phones, computers, and tablets to provide us with social approval and a sense of belonging.

We have the luxury of not needing to fight for survival. We can check out. Our minds can go elsewhere as our bodies stay on the couch.

We mostly “live” online, and until recently, we were okay with that. But now, social distancing and the loneliness that results from it has become a hot topic.

As we have spent more time with our technology, we have grown horrible at connecting with the real people in our lives. This lack of connection has created a painful disconnect between ourselves and our loved ones. Our face-to-face relationships have begun to suffer as we no longer know how to hold a meaningful conversation without a phone in our hands or a computer between us.

There is also a giant rift that has formed between what we actually feel and what we think we should feel. Instagram, Facebook, Twitter are all platforms that we share snippets of our lives with. The problem is, those snippets don’t need to be real. We can easily create a fake personality to share with the world that highlights who we want to be, not who we actually are.

And as more time goes on, we begin to realize how lonely a completely online existence can be. We have become separated from ourselves and one another. Feelings of loneliness, isolation, anxiety, and stress have wormed their way into our lives. It is apparent we need real, face-to-face human connection to thrive, not only just to survive.

The current pandemic is making us reassess what is important and what is meaningful. It is starting to show us that social distancing is not what we ultimately want. It is a wakeup call to pay attention to our loved ones and to take care of ourselves. It is showing us that we need to spend time appreciating what we already have.

But, the online world can only provide us with so much relief and happiness.

Now don’t get me wrong. I enjoy playing a video game more often than I should. But I do feel the distance between my mind and body, and the agitation that sets in after too much time spent playing online.

The longer we let technology consume us, the further away we will get from having conversations that actually ground us. We need to take control of our lives back from the technology we have built our worlds around. We need to learn how to communicate with one another again. Even if that communication is a brief story shared around the dinner table.

Everyday connections matter. They are worth fighting for, and we should not let them be overridden with the latest app or social platform release.

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