connect

so lately i've been slightly horrified at how attached i am to my phone and computer. it's like, i leave the house put my headphones in, stare down at my screen while i'm walking, riding the bus whatever, keep my headphones in till i walk back into my house then get on the computer the second i step into my room. i was on the bus the other day, headphones in and twitter open,  i took time to tear my eyes away from the screen to observe for a second. it was a full bus, not packed but full, EVERY. SINGLE. PERSON. on that bus had headphones in and were staring down at their screen. everyone of them. and... i was in awe. in a bad way.

what happened to meeting new people? i know it's kind of a joke about people having no friends and never leaving the house and avoiding socializing (i do it all the time cause that's totally me) but it's kind of sad. people have things to say and stories to tell and no one to tell them to because we are so focused on our 'connections'.

another instance, i was on the bus coming home from church a few weeks ago, as usual, i had my headphones in. there were two men, maybe in their 60's, sitting next to me. one looked at me and said "you have beautiful skin! it's like porcelain" flattered, i took my headphones out and said "thank you so much!" they then commented on my eyes. it wasn't like they were creepy old men hitting on me, they were sincere compliments. i thanked them again and put my headphones back in. they turned to me again and said, "you know, you take compliments very well. most women around here just blow off compliments and roll their eyes. i admire that you can take a compliment from a stranger." they then wished me a good day and got off the bus. that stuck with me that someone would be so rude to blow someone off when they are just saying good things about you to your face. yeah, maybe it's a little uncomfortable for some, but there's no need to be rude about it.

last week, i tried a facebook/twitter/netflix/buzzfeed (my latest addiction) fast and... it lasted one day. i am a slave to my phone and i'm horrified by it. my wonderful uncle randy posted this on facebook yesterday and i thought i'd share:

we are missing things in the real world by submerging ourselves into an electronic world. your kids aren't going to be kids forever. you're not going to be young forever. this world isn't always going to be as beautiful as it is now, it gets  uglier and sadder everyday and you're missing it by twitter stalking celebrities. 

i'm fully guilty of all of this. and it's okay to be on facebook and twitter and all that fun stuff but i think everyone needs to 'disconnect to connect' every now and then.