In this world of technology I often see many, many people with their ears plugged with their i phone pieces. Or they are walking around with their blue-tooth, seemingly psychotic, speaking to themselves when they are on the phone. Or, you go into any Starbucks or similar places and people are plugged in, typing away on their laptops, often hours go by before they even look up.
At the gym, it is always interesting to see people plugged into their music.--Often in their own world.
At my office and other places, little kids are so busy with their electronic games they do not even look up to say hello and engage. They are just typing away, looking down and preoccupied, too busy to even acknowledge one's presence.
Conversations are being entirely done via text messaging. Does anyone even speak on the phone anymore?
Is this the wave of the long term future? Time will tell. If this is the case, then how do we connect heart to heart with people, friends, intimate partners and so on? How do we practice our social skills? How do we get better at mastering our feelings and expressing them others in a more natural, one- to one intimate way? People even break up and ask each other out on dates via texting. What happened to the rapid heart beat, the knees wobbling and butterflies in the stomach from the anticipation of hearing someone's loving voice on the other end of the phone or in person--or asking someone face to face?
I even see people in parks walking the dog (which is often time limited anyway) and speaking on the cell phone--or having I phone ear pieces in. What about the time to enjoy one's dog and his company and to drink in the natural environment with the dog?
Is our tolerance for intimate dialogue and meaningful sharing going by the wayside? Where is the time to even make direct eye contact and say a real "hello how are you" and really mean it? And, how do we know whether to approach someone or not if they are completely pre-occupied with their earphones?
I am not saying that all this is somehow not right. However, can we have the awareness that we may go into feelings of void, emptiness, lack, and thoughtlessness if we only rely on technology and not know why we are feeling this way if we do not balance our use of technology with real reach out, sharing and caring that does not have some machine in between hearts---
And are all so conditioned that we cannot just savor silence or the sounds of Nature? Do we have to constantly have something in the background of our mind through the ears to avoid silence and to appreciate silence and quiet? I wonder if this is part of why our attention span is so limited these days, why people are shifting from subject to subject and not thinking about why this is happening.
No machine is going to replace the heartful sharing of feelings and emotions. Technology without the heart in my opinion creates automatons, consciously or unconsciously.
So next time we are in Starbucks, at the gym, in the department store, grocery store or out in Nature can we remember that someone maybe wanting to connect to us and yet there is no opening to do that if we are plugged in? And, can we sometimes take time to actually write a real letter or thank you card and take the time to be more thoughtful than just sending an email? Can we practice meeting and being with people without the atmosphere of alcohol to loosen us up so that we can discover more of who we are and who they are?
These are just requests, that is all.........Hope we think and take some of this to heart.
Dr. R
