Jul 1, 2019
Children of the Screen
We are children of the screen, for better and worse. TV, movies, tablets and smart phones have us glued to the monitor. Buildings have exterior and interior monitors. Cars today have monitors. We champion how to use each monitor and navigate all scenarios from the map of our vacation to the map at the mall.
I love the internet and the positive creative informative curated experience I’ve created for myself. Know, however, that as an engineer, screen addiction was an occupational malady long before (gee maybe 20 years before?) smart phones and flat screens dominated the lives of all people of all ages. I’ve been in tech long enough that my strict self-care self-preservation boundaries were created long before even Blackberries became reliable phones. I unplug often, and let me give you some reasons you may want to do the same.
“I must have flowers, always, and always.”
― Claude Monet
The amount of information we are responsible today for is uncanny and often stressful. Some of us are whizzes at internet research. If we want to buy anything from a bed to a blender we research everything first, then become a subject expert before the purchase. Shame on us if we didn’t read the review for the store or product. We feel responsible if we don’t complain about that rotten dish from that highly rated restaurant to warn others. This level of detail is even more important for choosing our support professionals like doctors or lawyers. While the content can be important and even to selflessly protect others, this level of screen absorption is too much. Too much = stress.
Sustainability is about life. What about our own lives?
What are we losing? Each other. We might be invited to dinner or someone’s house and the host might never put their phone down.
We are losing the great outdoors. We’ve learned how to navigate the World Wide Web but have forgotten how to get along in the real world.
We are losing the ability to connect with nature as a teacher and mentor.
We are losing the idea to develop our telepathic and intuitive gifts that may allow us to communicate with animals or nature.
We are losing the coping skills that come from hope and wonder; looking up at the sky, wondering why we are here, seeding our faith.
“When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world.”
― John Muir
Compared to video games, nature is a hard sell. It takes time and breath to experience nature and with all this fast sense gratification we don’t know how to wait for it anymore. Even videos of nature don’t reflect the true experience; being in nature is generally not as fast action as an edited video.
The screen can also stream the news and the market. 24/7. Yes it’s completely interesting but this feed also changes our views of the world. Is everything a profit or loss? Are we not interested in saving endangered species if we cannot profit from them somehow? What happened to learning from nature, animals and insects as people have benefited from since the beginning of time? What about the benefits of stress reduction from nature?
Besides profit and loss, life and death should be a larger priority. We need to sustain our own lives.
“Thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to find out that going to the mountains is going home; that wildness is a necessity”
― John Muir, Our National Parks
We don’t need 200 apps for relaxation on our phones. We are adults choosing gamification over nature. Some of these programs and apps are admittedly helpful, but not a replacement for nature. Nature selflessly gives us solutions, but are we there to receive them?
Read the news that we are receiving, and we can agree that our world needs coping skills. We can read the statistics regarding diseases of lifestyle. Unhealthy lifestyles take lives because people are not inspired to improve their lifestyle. I make my living in tech and wellness so I observe and study the crossroads of both, often.
We seem to dive deeper into the screen for motivation or inspiration. Humans need a spark of inspiration to embark on any new endeavor, be it learning new coping tools, self-care or self-improvement, and those sparks can better come from nature. Say YES to life.
“The richness I achieve comes from nature, the source of my inspiration. ”
― Claude Monet
Screens today are easy. Getting outside is not as easy as yesteryear.
Unplug and take a few minutes to go outside.
Plan an unplugged day or afternoon, or holiday.
Prioritize your relationship with nature like we prioritize checking the market, stats, social media and our other pulling screen events.
Nature feeds our souls. Unplug and show up for it!
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