We are living in a generation that records life instead of experiencing it. As if an entire film crew were only cameramen with no actors to push the plot forward. Technology seems to be providing us with more and more opportunities to be absent. Where ever we are or whatever we are doing, the temptation is to be somewhere else, talking to someone else. I have to make a conscious decision not to answer my phone or check my texts when having a serious conversation with someone. The question is why? Why should we ignore present company to talk to people elsewhere? Is it envy? The idea that no matter where we are there is someplace better we could be looking or thinking about. The idea that there is someone more interesting or likable than the person in front of me that I could be talking with instead. Are we addicted to stimulation? We have to have some sort of constant interaction, a piece of new information, a new message. I’m not sure exactly why we are displaying these new types of behavior, but the one thing I’m sure of is that it takes us out of the present. Perhaps we are more comfortable dealing with the past so we are recording the present for enjoyment later. Or maybe we are uncomfortable in the present. We become nervous and stressed when we are actually wholly physically, mentally, and emotionally in this particular place and time. In the present moment you are forced to endure whatever exists, as it exists. In many ways you are exposed, people see how you are… not how you portray yourself. The real world can’t be ignored, turned off, reloaded, downvoted, hidden from our feed, or opened in another tab. Being present forces us to be aware of both ourselves and our surroundings as they exist. Technology has opened up a new frontier for us. The frontier of the present reality. The opportunity to explore our physical surroundings and the people around us. This area is left bare, completely untouched, as most people are not present, but absent.
Stop looking at your screen. Look around you. Explore. Interact. Be Present
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