Anyway, I'm coming to realize that life is nothing without the relationships that are found within it. Life is not worth living, if not for the people life is shared with. I am not talking about spouse or a family member per se, but human interaction at large. I feel like we're on the verge of a societal decline, because people have relegated relationships to the internet. Relationships of the here and now are deteriorating at a fast pace, because people are so focused on past relationships and future networking. You need to realize that the past is the past, and the future is the future, but the here and now only comes once in a life time. People from your past are important, but if you spread yourself so thin, you'll have no meaningful relationships in your present. That's what online networking does. It spreads you thin. You tell everyone, regardless of how shallow the relationship is, about your life, and your 'deeper' friends get the same information. I don't really know how to explain it, but I feel like relationships have become destroyed. Because someone can figure out what you've been up to through networks like facebook, they never have to call you or contact you directly. We are forced to live in a virtual world, and forget that there is a greater reality.
People can spend hours on facebook, but when it comes to spending one hour with a friend they have no time. You will never get those virtual hours back. Nor will you ever be able to develop true relationships through the internet. You need physical, face-to-face contact. You need to speak, hear, smell, touch and see. If long distance relationships are difficult to maintain, well how do you expect virtual relationships to be. Why do people love TV? Because the characters are DOING SOMETHING! They are moving, seeing, feeling, smelling, tasting, LIVING! So, screw the television, screw the internet. Just take time on a daily basis and call someone, meet up with someone, do something that is unrelated to school or work. Develop some sort of human contact or interaction. The world is no place to live in, if people are not living it. The best moments of my life are those when my friends and I do something completely out of the ordinary, like walk around our apartment building for 15 minutes at 1 am, just because we can. Or playing pingpong with my dad, just because we have 10 minutes to spare. SOMETHING!
So, why am I blogging about something, when I could be doing something? Am I being hypocritical? Not really, no. Because I don't really live in a virtual reality. Everything needs some time, and I probably spend a total of an hour at most, daily, on the internet. The last time I blogged was about 2-3 weeks ago. I share my experiences with people who I may not physically see or hear, essentially come into contact with, but experiences are there to be shared. But you need to realize that every tool is just a means. I find blogging an effective way of communicating my experiences. But if I live to blog, then that's a problem. Hence, the fact that I'm not a daily blogger. :x
Anyway, so my message is this. L.I.V.E. Living entails human interaction, and not at a virtual level. Move, experience, test, smell, aspire, change, forget, remember... DO SOMETHING! Get off your computer and just talk to your dad/mom/sibling/friend/acquaintance for like 5 minutes. Just 5 minutes! Recognize that human interaction is the foundation of society, and without it, we'll fall apart.
peace
-reem
4 comments:
Amany K.
Yay first to comment! I think this only my 2nd visit to your blog and I've got to say I love it, espcially this post. It's ironic b/c I recently deactivated my fb and I don't know why but I don't miss it. I guess I have become indifferent to it. I wonder how long it will last though? My reasons for deactivation are always hard to explain and varied. Sometimes I just need to focus, other times I feel like I'm putting myself out there like you mentioned where close and not to close friends know what's up with me. Sometimes I get sick of the lame statuses and the fact that I have to sift through all the "trash" to find something useful or beneficial. I mean don't get me wrong I'm not anti-fb, but I feel like we all need a break here and there. Maybe it's because for me when I am around people for too long I need my space and I don't really want to see anyone. Similary when I don't see people for too long I feed off their energy. I don't know but one thing's for sure I'm still tring to figure how fb is affecting me personally. It's really scare how with all this internet and technology we're supposed to be connected and more in touch with each other, yet in reality that's not true.
p.s. we gotta have this discussion next time I see u! (iA)
I completely agree with you... but, on the other hand, virtual relationships arent that bad either. I can chat with a friend and catch up with them while skimming through my notes; I can be there for a friend when they need it most at 2am without having to leave the house. Ive made some of my best friendships online and not b/c I dont see them as often, but b/c I get to talk to them more often than I would otherwise. And I actually do connect through facebook... I dont use it as often, but for me its really nice to see what old friends are up to. Im the type of person who cant let go of past friendships... Ill make new ones, but cant let old ones go... and so I like fb for that aspect b/c it allows me to still stay in contact with them... Pros and cons to everything. But I do agree that we need less virtual time altogether... we need to be around people more than we are nowadays
I totally agree with EmptyWords. I can really see the benefits of the internet, though I do recognize the limitations it puts on relationships. I like being able to quickly catch up with someone, to drop a sentence about how I dreamed about them or was thinking of them. Etc. etc. etc.
Great post! I couldnt agree with you more. especially your first paragraph.
and it all goes back to mark zuckerberg saying: people used to live in cities and farms, now they live on the internet.
Post a Comment