This is not a post about books.
This is not even about reading..
But if my words can reach you, then there is a connection formed already.
And if that is the case, I’ll take the liberty of asking you to think about what you see/hear next and to decide very well where to draw the line between having your fair share of fun on the internet, of enjoying a good book or a game, AND still living your life – the real one, with the good and the bad and the in-betweens.
This is what we might call ‘the paradox of loneliness’ – when one is surrounded by virtual friends, but all he/she feels is (complete and utter) loneliness. And don’t get me wrong, I don’t say that you should give up on what you have now in your virtual world, I just think you should expand that into your actual, real life:
– Keep you phone close, but never dismiss the person next to you.
– Keep in touch with your friends on social websites, but never miss the chance to actually spend time with them.
– Say “I love you” not only by phone, but face to face.
– Read a book but also ‘write’ your own story full of memories, of present tenses, of all the things you could die for or without.
I plan to be a mother soon, I hope to be a good one too, to have a happy kid that lives fully and smiles and enjoys the whole world, but not just from behind a screen.
And that’s what I wish for each and every one of you.
Because nothing compares to the real thing – the real friends, the real experiences, playing real-life games, traveling to beautiful places, spending a day off with your friends or .. just enjoying a quite, alone moment.
Your life is full of amazing things, just take your eyes away from the gadget in front of you and appreciate everything else.
This picture is actually from two weeks ago, today I’ll be doing a bit of a culinary experiment – and if something good comes out of it I might share the result with you as well 😀 Keep you fingers crossed for me not to burn down the whole kitchen.. and just go enjoy the sunshine (or you know.. whatever makes you feel good)!
I love that tedTalk! A friend shared it with me a few years ago and I was struck by how spot on it is. Especially the idea that we feel more comfortable with email and virtual communication because we can edit ourselves and therefore present our best selves.
I think it’s also a great encouragement to really live our lives out in the real world without having to become total luddites 🙂
There was this quote in a book, I don’t remember it that well, but the main idea was that internet was not meant to make communication easier, but actually not to need to.
And it is right, you don’t tell your friends where you got to spend time or what you had at lunch, as they already know from facebook, twitter, instagram…
But truth being told, what saddens me the most is watching kids – they are so quite, somewhere in a corner with a phone or a tablet in hands, they don’t play anymore, they don’t run up and down driving crazy all people around them, they don’t scream, they don’t laugh. That’s wrong in so many ways (maybe except for not screaming, LOL – no, I am kidding, a happy kid is a loud kid and there’s also beauty in that sound)
Then there are teens that don’t know how to socialise, how to actually have fun and meet lots of people outside their phones and other gadgets. I won’t generalise, they are not all the same, but many are, and it’s sad.
We have only one life, and all the best things are just outside our ‘golden cage’, waiting for us to discover them.