
Life is hectic.
Even so, three to four times a week after work, I manage to corral the wife and kids and go on a 2 mile walk around our subdivision.
I don’t do this for the exercise, although I could use it, but as a way of routinizing a space of togetherness that doesn’t involve flocking around a screen, handheld or wall-mounted, like a tribe of cave people around a campfire.
It’s a time of zero digital distraction.
Just five genetically connected lives, unaffected by the sweat and stickiness of a two-mile walk in the afternoon sun of Central Florida.
We share everything from how our day went to what new information our brain munched on at school or work to what sort of issues are weighing down in our souls to what made our belly burst with laughter that day.
It’s our very own 21st century family tradition.
No gadgets, no Hi-Definition, no Wi-Fi, no alerts, no buzzing, no glowing back-light — just flesh and blood people having a real, tangible experience together.
So many of us have surrendered to the tech culture and its redefining of human connection.
I’m one of them.
Most of my day is spent online, affixed to a DNA-less world made up of zeroes and ones
Don’t get me wrong, I love the internet. I could give you dozens of reasons why — but not today.
What I am pointing to here is that in this day and age where we can share smiley face emojis and a picture of our frappuccino with someone half way across the world in .0010 seconds, it’s easy to lose sight of our innate need for face to face, eyeball to eyeball human contact.
The online world beckons.
This won’t end anytime soon nor should it.
What I’m suggesting, if you’re not doing it already, is to create pockets of time in your busy lives to fast from the digital world and plug into human outlets.
Instead of Facetiming your friend, throw together a meal and invite them over for dinner.
Rip your kids away from the iPad and go trek the nearby woods with them.
Pull your spouse away from his/her social media stream, grab some chairs, go outside, and talk under the stars.
Make a decision to not be pulled in and swept up in the whirlpool of media consumption. Instead, push out and form palpable connections with the people you cherish and — dare I say — those just outside of your orbit
Now, time to lace up and go for our walk.

