Whenever I leave my home, you can be sure I have the following items on me:
- Wallet
- Watch
- Keys
- Phone
It’s interesting… I grew up in an era before cell phones. (Yes, my birth year starts with “19.”) However, I have quickly adopted technological advancements and have seen both the benefits and disadvantages of doing so.
And I am not alone in that feeling.
Look no further than the article “Young Adults Joining ‘Offline Clubs’ Across Europe–to Replace Screen Time with Real Time” to see evidence of this. Although the article focuses on Europe, the sentiment is global.
In our ever-connected world, we are losing some of our humanity. This raised an alarm among some Dutch citizens, who created a movement called The Offline Club.
Even my wife has commented to me about noticing her attention span for reading (and other tasks) has gotten shorter in recent years, thanks in part to her use of social media and feeling always connected.
I grew up being an avid reader, devouring books as quickly as my mom could get me back and forth to the public library. However, I can’t recall the last time I sat down in silence to start and finish reading a book that wasn’t related to homework.
Still, I’ve dozens of books that I’ve purchased with the intention of reading. Instead, they are either packed away for “someday” or are sitting on my desk ot a bookcase collecting dust.
I need to change that.
I need to make the conscious effort to unplug and utilize the parts of my brain that have been neglected. How about you?
PHOTO CREDIT: This image was originally posted to Flickr by Rawpixel Ltd at https://flickr.com/photos/147875007@N03/45739289022 (archive). It was reviewed on 22 January 2019 by FlickreviewR 2 and was confirmed to be licensed under the terms of the cc-by-2.0.
