Reflections - Technology is a Distraction

This is a short series I want to call reflections, where I share my perspective and thoughts on certain subjects. My views will evolve over the course of the voyage so I will update accordingly. First subject is...    

 Reflections - Technology

     
     Okay so let's get this straight.
     I love technology. It's great. It gives me access to loads of information, millions of people around the world and tons of life-draining mindless games like Flappy Bird. Yet there is also a problem. As we increasingly come to own technology, technology has slowly started owning us.

    I say this because on our cruise ship there is no Wi-Fi. That means there is no Snapchat, no Instagram, no Twitter. No News Feed. No Facebook. No YouTube. Nope, not even every college student's best friend - Google.

     Instead there is us. Human beings. We have to entertain ourselves. Within the first few days of being alone at sea, I still saw everyone carrying their phones around, anxiously flipping them on to check messages that did't exist. They were absent-mindedly refreshing pages that were never going to reload. There was a habit, an addiction, that had to be satiated.

      I found myself often using my phone as an alarm and just staring at the screen blankly, uncertain what to do. I ended up just looking through all of my photos out of an incessant need to flip through memories, to see virtual peoples, to artificially feel connected.

      And then I did connect. We all did. However, these connections are for real. As we put down the phones and removed the "connectivity" we learned how to exist together. We watched sunsets and sunrises together. We played Cards Against Humanity together. We practiced ballroom dancing, swing dancing and hip hop dancing routines. We sang songs as a group as someone played their guitar. We talked and learned about each other's cultures, stories, upbringings, hopes and dreams. We connected. 
       Seek to connect genuinely and authentically with at least one person today. Seek to look them in the eyes and listen.

    Also, learn how to be alone.

    There is a huge amount of value in being alone. Completely alone. No notifications, no computer, nothing but the man or woman in the mirror. When we are completely alone we have to face all the fears, the worries, the doubts that plague our minds and crawl at the edge of our consciousness. Our uncertainties scare us, yet they only shrink away when we look them dead in the eye. Fear grows in the darkness, but when you shed light on your fears, when you address them, think about them and then overcome them, they melt away like sticky ice cream on a hot summer day. 
       Mmmmm...tasty.

      So yes I am going to say it....turn off your phone and be alone.

     Just for one hour today. 
     If that's too much, just do thirty minutes. 
     If that's too much, just do fifteen minutes. 
     If that's too much...you need to have an intervention.