Mantra Monday XV: Connect More by Disconnecting
Author: Joe Lizz
We live in a beautiful time where technology makes it easier to connect with people all around the world through the internet than by dropping a letter in the mailbox or even picking up the phone to dial someone’s number.
A couple of “double taps” on Instagram and several thumbs up on Facebook and you’re suddenly up-to-date on the lives of people who, for all we know, you never would have met if it weren’t for the digital world of profile photos and “Facebook wants to know how you feel” status updates.
I’m no stranger to the benefits social media can bring into my real life away from my phone, tablet, or computer.
I met one of my very best friends, Amber (you all may know her as @elisheva_yoga on the Gram), through Instagram yoga challenges nearly half a decade ago.
But amidst all this easy, fast, virtual connection, it seems as if social media has caused us to become desensitized to some of the most important parts of being human.
We dehumanize others because we don’t have to look them in the eye when we say hurtful things.
We take the less compassionate approach because we feel like blocking someone from responding also blocks them from feeling emotions like pain and sadness caused by our words on a screen.
We send and receive hundreds of text messages, emails, and direct messages every day, and we leave them up to the interpretation (and, at times, misinterpretation) of those receiving them to decide our tone, our context, our intentions.
This week, take a little bit of time to reconnect to the world around you by disconnecting from the dependent relationship you have with all things digital.
Set down the phone at the dinner table, close the laptop at your local coffee shop and ask a passing stranger how they are. Lay down the tablet, go for a walk, and breathe in the fresh air. Get out into your neighborhood and actually be a part of the community. Talk, interact, shake hands, look one another in the eye.
Take the time to nurture the relationships you have away from the screen, including the relationship that you have with yourself.
Hug a friend or family member, hold hands with your spouse or significant other and really listen to them tell you about their day. Hold the door open for a mom at the store juggling grocery bags and grasping the hood of her son’s jacket.
Through the ripples of actions like these, witness how a kind act — something as simple as a smile or thank you — can truly shift the energy of another person.
Don’t get me wrong — I am a huge fan of the digital world and the positive connections it can create.
However, I also believe in the physical connections and energy exchanges that happen off-screen, and the value of truly living in the present.
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