Has Media Has Overcome Nature?

I woke up this morning and realized I needed to tell a story about media using pictures. From the vantage point on my couch where I spend many mornings drinking coffee and relaxing, I saw my TV with my Xbox turned on, and my computer playing music. It dawned upon me that my morning, the most peaceful time of my day, was already consumed by media streaming out of multiple different platforms. In today’s world, media has become integrated into almost every facet of our lives.

While looking at my TV, I noticed something on the screen that made me think, but it wasn’t a program or a game…

Reflected in my TV screen was a picture of my backyard. Beautiful, green scenery is just outside my window, yet I find myself frequently focusing on any and/or all of the media streaming from my multiple devices instead of looking outside.

I comment often on my generation’s obsession with media consumption and how we ignore our natural surroundings, but this morning I recognized that I am as much a product of that environment as my fellows.

So this morning, I closed my computer, ignored updates from my phone and drank my coffee while looking out the window and observing the natural environment in peace. Enjoying the fall before the brutal winter starts sometime next week. It feels nice to cut the cord from all of the media available at my disposal, but at the same time, it can be hard to ignore the compulsion to check out what is going on in the digital world. I guess what I learned this morning is how easy it is to fall into the pattern of forgetting to look at what is happening around us and appreciate it while it lasts. To quote Ferris Beuller; “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop to look around once in a while, you could miss it.”