Disconnected Through Connection

We're living in the social media era. The 'I can't survive the day without my cellphone because it's basically my lifeline and I'd be lost without it' era. There are many benefits to this, some which include the amazing ability to video call someone in another province, another country! Keeps us connected, right?

Let me set up a scene for you. A family of five walks into a restaurant, beautiful family. They sit down, the kids are very energetic as most kids are. The waitress takes their order and then the kids run off to the play area. Now, any normal human being would assume that the parents would take this time alone to connect, right? Wrong. Instead they both stare into the screens of their phones without as much as stopping to see if the other person is still there.

This scene played out in front of me, and it had me thinking how we've become so reliant on our phones that even in moments where intimacy could flourish, it can't, because we're preoccupied. We've confused proximal intimacy with actual intimacy. Just because we're close to each other physically doesn't mean that our minds or our hearts are connected.

So I challenge you. If you're the type of person to take out your phone at the dinner table, or you're snap chatting in the middle of a conversation with your friend. Put down the phone, it'll be there when you're done. And I assure you that the kind of connection you're going to build without your phone will be better than the one you think you're building, with it.
I am an Occupational Therapist by profession, but I have many roles that bring meaning to my life. In short, I love people, books and love.

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