Day Two Hundred and Twenty Six
Last year I deactivated my Facebook account to see if I would miss it, needless to say, the only thing I missed was my calendar event page. I haven't been on Facebook properly for two months now.
Today I deactivated my Twitter account.
Tonight I'm living in the stone ages.
When I sat in the mall waiting for my mother to come out from one of the clothing stores, I got a good amount of time to sit and soak in the world in which we live. There were probably 2 in 10 people who walked past me that were not on their mobile phones.
It got me thinking... how much time of our lives must we spend walking around the real world absorbed in the virtual world. We must miss out on so many things that happen around us. Yes, they say that as long as you can remember the fun times, you don't need to remember the details. But to me, I say that the details are what make the fun times even more memorable.
I sit at a table with my mother having coffee and we both contemplate the other tables that neighbor ours. We are surrounded by a connecting web of social networks which make us feel like the prey within this virtual web. It makes me think that the people on their phones have taken their mobile phones on dates, instead of the people whom they're actually sitting with.
If you had to chat to whomever it was that was taking up so much of your time, in person, I can gaurentee you that you wouldn't be talking to them in the real world - you'd be talking to someone else on the virtual world.
I remember joking with my girlfriends in high school at a slumber party (this was before mobile phones with social networks became so main stream) and we thought the idea of sitting in a lounge or at a party with our phones chatting to each other online instead of face to face was impossible - something stupid that we would hope never to do. And now? Now we're left doing exactly this.
I know us clever humans (those with the techno gift at least) have been blessed with the knowledge to help upgrade the human race and I appreciate this, but is there no way to bask in this advanced technology while not losing sight of who we are and where we have come from - if that doesn't interest you, then at least knowing where you are going should!
So. I'm going to Durban with my mother soon and I want to give her my everything. I want to remember the times that are usually lost within the screen of Facebook or Twitter.
Today I deactivated my Twitter account.
Tonight I'm living in the stone ages.
When I sat in the mall waiting for my mother to come out from one of the clothing stores, I got a good amount of time to sit and soak in the world in which we live. There were probably 2 in 10 people who walked past me that were not on their mobile phones.
It got me thinking... how much time of our lives must we spend walking around the real world absorbed in the virtual world. We must miss out on so many things that happen around us. Yes, they say that as long as you can remember the fun times, you don't need to remember the details. But to me, I say that the details are what make the fun times even more memorable.
I sit at a table with my mother having coffee and we both contemplate the other tables that neighbor ours. We are surrounded by a connecting web of social networks which make us feel like the prey within this virtual web. It makes me think that the people on their phones have taken their mobile phones on dates, instead of the people whom they're actually sitting with.
If you had to chat to whomever it was that was taking up so much of your time, in person, I can gaurentee you that you wouldn't be talking to them in the real world - you'd be talking to someone else on the virtual world.
I remember joking with my girlfriends in high school at a slumber party (this was before mobile phones with social networks became so main stream) and we thought the idea of sitting in a lounge or at a party with our phones chatting to each other online instead of face to face was impossible - something stupid that we would hope never to do. And now? Now we're left doing exactly this.
I know us clever humans (those with the techno gift at least) have been blessed with the knowledge to help upgrade the human race and I appreciate this, but is there no way to bask in this advanced technology while not losing sight of who we are and where we have come from - if that doesn't interest you, then at least knowing where you are going should!
So. I'm going to Durban with my mother soon and I want to give her my everything. I want to remember the times that are usually lost within the screen of Facebook or Twitter.
I want to remember the small details.
I'm giving my mom time with me.
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| Back to the Stone Ages |
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