Imagine a child running to his mom after a busy day at school. He is all excited to utter out everything he did at school and what amazing things he learnt and experienced. All he wants at that time is a warm hug, a wide smile and an ear that is ready to listen to his little adventures. He is running towards his mom and desperately waiting for the eye contact with her that will acknowledge his love. Suddenly he hits an emotionless object, his mom. He grabs her leg with his little hands and to his surprise she acknowledges this contact by saying “hey just wait a second, let me send this text”. The kid suddenly loses all the excitement and brightness in his eyes and has nothing more to say. In actual he is waiting for the time when he will get the entire gadgets mommy and daddy have and he will be able to share what he feels with the world.
The world of today, where written words speak louder than actions, where our minds and thoughts are connected but physical actions to prove what we feel are missing. We are engaged 24/7 but our productivity at work and relationships is reduced. A world where social media communication is helping us to make more friends, but is drifting our children away from us. We are strongly connected with no true feelings from the heart but through the showcasing of our thought out written emotions.
This is the world where everybody runs a show through social currency. Everybody is a celebrity who knows how to sound good, look good, put a good impression but not be good in actual. A world where you either showcase your relationships to be perfect or you perfectly showcase your relationships, in both cases you lose because the bond is weak due to no physical contacts.
A world where your wife tells you that she loves you in front of the world but there is no intimate time in the bedroom to utter those words directly. iPads or iPhones are the last things they kiss goodnight to and the first things they wake up to in the morning. A place, where instead of spending quality time with your kids, the love is shown using a simple selfie with your kids face touching yours. A world, where you are aware of the fact that your friend just got his living room made over but are unable to enjoy or appreciate the new décor of your own bedroom. A place where you say ‘wow’ to the tempting pictures of food shared by people but never get the time to notice, enjoy or appreciate what your wife cooked because you are busy looking at what others had for dinner.
Has this virtual world taken away love and true feelings from us? The moment of pure love when a mother took her newborn for the first time in her arms is now replaced by her hurried movement to capture the first glimpse of the baby on camera. That moment of pride when your child stood up from a crawling position to a standing one was left un-enjoyed because you were busy looking for your cell phone to capture it. Where is this all taking us? We need to stop and think.
Replace touch screen with the real touch. You don’t need to sound or look good in front of the world but in fact feel good in Real. Stop focusing on social currency, Live Every Moment, Own It and Enjoy It.
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[Social Currency: Creating your positive image in front of the world or sharing content which you think will add value to your status or image. Virtual: having the essence or effect but not the appearance or form]
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