Is it really that important? It’s the premise of a recent blog post questioning our obsessive compulsion to check our cell phones –literally 150 times a day! We are engaged in life on the surface, yet — at dinner parties, on outings with friends, in private moments with our loved ones, or even in the midst of a crowd– are we actually missing life all around us?
Christy Wright’s Business Boutique blog post walks you through the harrowing reality:
Posting photos and updating statuses isn’t a bad thing, but sometimes I find myself missing everyday moments because I’m so busy trying to document them.
It’s not just me either. If you go to a concert, you’ll see thousands of people watching a live concert in person (that they paid for) through a tiny screen on their phone to capture it.
But we don’t just capture it. After we capture it, we have to write a clever caption. Then we have to post it. And the moment we upload that Instagram picture or Facebook post, we push over the first domino in a series.
The next domino is a notification that our old high school friend Amber likes our post. How is Amber? I haven’t thought of her in years. I heard she moved to California . . .
Then there’s another notification. It’s John. His comments are always so clever and witty! It’ll just take a second to respond.
What started as a moment with family or friends turned into a photo, then a post, then a notification—and the dominoes keep falling.
And we get halfway through the concert or dinner only to realize the entire first half was spent staring at a screen and completely missing out on the moment that we’re in.
Sound familiar??
Her antidote to this obsession? Ask this question…
“Is it more important that the outside world knows what I am doing right now, or is it more important that I experience it myself?”
If I ask this simple question when I’m tempted to pick up my phone, it gives me some perspective.
Pope Francis admonished us to put our phones down when in the midst of our family gatherings saying: “A family that rarely eats together, or a family where no one speaks, opting instead to watch television or look at smartphones, is not much of a family.”
The indomitable Dr. Laura weighed in on the problem too.
Jenn, You hit the nail on the head! The people we are physically present to are more important than our devices. Presence is not about just being there but is about engagement.
Amen!