We all live in a microwave. Everything nowadays just seems so instant. If you're wondering when Jill Scott is coming near your town on tour, just search it on your phone. In an instant, you know she'll be there in 3 weeks. No tickets? That's cool. You can look those up in 5 seconds flat on your phone too. Do you remember the name of that really cute guy you just met at the club? Look him up on Facebook. Follow him on Twitter. In about 10 minutes and 15 tweets later, you know his birthday, favorite color, each of his siblings' names, and the strange fact that his dog is named after his ex-girlfriend Misty. I may be going off on a tangent, but you get the idea, right? There's no wonder why we thirst for so much instant gratification. Technology has enabled us to live this way. We talk on the phone while our favorite show is recording on the DVR (so we won't miss anything) all while baking dinner, texting our bestie, ironing our children's school clothes, and perusing the latest status updates on Facebook. If we're lucky, we may even get that report typed up before work in the A.M.
Why am I going off on this tirade? Maybe because I feel like everything is moving too fast for me. I don't know about you guys, but I miss the good old days. You know, when we actually made the effort to "make" friends with others instead of just looking on profiles and making decisions with the click of a button. I miss the times when individuals actually hung out together publicly (or privately) and really got to know each other. We used to take the time to enjoy walking along the riverfront together or have a great lunch date without clutching our phones and announcing on every social network that we were doing such. Can't we just take our time and chill? Or are we all too busy for that?
A while back, I was reading a great post by fellow blogger Nicole Alicia, in which she discussed Friendships After College Years. It wasn't until after I read the post and pondered over it for a few days that I realized why so many of us have trouble maintaining friendships. I truly believe technology tends to get in the way. So many of us rely on social networks as a way to keep up with our close friends and family. Now if we don't take the time to physically nurture our friendships, how will we sustain them? Some of us even find closure in relationships by officially "breaking up" with people via Facebook. When I found myself erasing people from my life by deleting them on Facebook or unfollowing them on Twitter, I knew I was doing the most. Like really, does that suppose to suffice? What happened to discussing whatever personal issues we were having and being adults about the situation? I wish I had an answer.
Do any of you guys have any answers or suggestions on ways we can all do better? If so, feel free to share in the comments!
Repost from Archives: November 2011
Photo courtesy of banlovestam via Tumblr
