lyrique discorde

thoughts (offline and online)

I took some time off while I was on a stay-cation from all things internet and work-related. One of my best friends came to visit, I finished a book I’ve been trying to read for most of the year, slept in, tried a new recipe, had some amazing conversations, explored my neighborhood, and saw some live comedy-type shows. I talked to people and I took things in.

(I did have to pay bills and work a bit, unfortunately, but besides that I tried to stay off-line, so to speak)

The after effect of it is I feel refreshed and more relaxed from it, and my thoughts feel clearer. I think I need to take a lesson from my time-off and remember to disconnect more.

So much of life seems to be behind a screen - be it a laptop, a computer, a cell-phone. We report on what we are doing while we are doing it, but are we actually engaged in doing these things at all? Are we creating the image of a life digitally and not really living it? Do we remember how to make real conversations and connections with people?

Sometimes I think it is all just getting worse. That technology is killing our ability to socially interract in a genuine way. Though social media and technology has made our world feel smaller, I think it has started to make it all more fragmented, as well. I feel like we are all retreating and withdrawing from life everytime we connect via our versions of social media/digital interractions.

After awhile, too, trying to connect off-line starts to feel so exhausting. It is hard to keep trying to initiate conversation and connection. I tend to have become a person people rely on for either being the calming force in chaos, and/or being the one to initiate conversation and pull people out of themselves. I’m proud of being those things, and I know I’ve worked hard to hone those skills, but at the same time I often feel bled dry from it all. Sometimes I long for someone to be a calming force to me, and sometimes I want someone else to pull me out from myself.

And, sometimes I just want to block everyone’s digital devices for a few hours and try to connect with each other. It will all still be there and maybe we will get to know each other a wee bit more. Though, honestly, I am beginning to doubt that this will ever happen.