When I was young, things were a lot simpler. For example, there were only a handful of TV stations; long-distance communication was reduced to just two options, the phone or a letter; if you didn’t have your own car, it was a bus or taxi; and shopping was done once a week at a supermarket or local shop.
These days, options for everything has become multiplied. A humungous amounts of TV stations and streaming platforms; unfathomable options for communication, messaging, video calling and email; getting transport to your door in seconds; and shopping, well, you don’t even need to leave the house any more! But with all these exciting options, I can’t help feeling that the magic and simplicity of life has changed. And, along with it, the innocence of discovery.
It seems to me, we’ve exchanged community for convenience. We hardly know our neighbours, let alone the people who service our lives: taxi drivers, local shop owners or customers. Our lives have become more and more remote, and with that, loneliness more and more rife.
I have no solutions to these thoughts, but I do know that the most rewarding things in life can’t be found through an App. We need to use all of our senses when discovering something new, not just sights and sounds from a speaker.
We need to feel the skin of strangers, smell the fragrances of life and taste the sweetness of surprise. Fill our lives with our experiences, not another’s. Gift ourself magical stories to tell of our lives, not other’s posts. In short, our lives are out there. Go get yourself some!