'Chillin’, You?'

“Hey” “What’s up?” “Wyd?” *Insert emoji here*

The basic conversation starters nowadays. As I get older, the probability of responding to any texts or messages consisting of those simple words is becoming slim to none. Where’s the depth? Now, I get that, depending on the person, those starters are usually and often effective. But what about what comes after? The basic “not much, wyd?” or “chillin', you?” The world these days is so warped with technology, but why? What’s so intriguing about an empty or dead-end conversation?

I can’t try to cover the fact that I’m guilty myself of the constant “face in my phone” habit. It’s like so many of us are so anxious that we’re going to miss something if we don’t repeatedly check our phones. What about the actual world and life going on around us that we’re missing out on the most? Things have become invalid unless they’re documented. If you didn’t take a snap or boomerang of your food, did you really eat? If you didn’t make a touching video of you giving the homeless food, are you really a good person? Granted, we’re extremely blessed to have the technology to save those memories. A camera lens and our eyes are so very similar, regarding observance and capturing the world going on around us, but they will never truly resonate the same.

Who am I to judge though? Like I said, I’m completely guilty of spending way too much time on my phone and social media. We have been blessed to have such advancements technologically, why not use them?

My answer for that is... because there’s so much going on outside of a social media profile or a blog. Why not experience it first hand yourself sometimes? There’s just something about actually being there in the exact moment that we retain the most.

My challenge to you, and I’m going to challenge myself as well, is to find a park, mountain lookout, a body of water, or anywhere that you find beautiful and peaceful, and just sit. Observe, meditate, pray, or whatever relaxes you. But the catch is, don’t bring your phone. It may be beautiful and you may want to take a picture so desperately... but don’t. I get that may be asking a lot. If you must so have to, wait a little while, soak it in, and then document. But try every now and then to leave your phone at home, or bring it with you and leave it in the car.

I can almost guarantee that getting into the habit of doing this as often as possible will bring you peace, solitude, and appreciation for the world around you, even if it’s just for five minutes. It’ll help practice self-control a little bit too. Also, rather than just showing someone a picture, or posting your #view on social media, how cool of a conversation would it be to actually describe it to someone instead? The depth would be unlimited. You never know what other doors for conversation would open.

Furthermore, I’m not bashing technology or social media. By all means, keep using it. I wouldn’t even have been able to write this without it! I get that most jobs and careers nowadays couldn’t even function without technology. But just slow down a little bit every now and then. Why not binge watch the actual happenings in the world instead? Or just make a place of solitude in your home. Light some candles, play some soft music, or whatever kind helps you to your happy place, close your eyes, and just ponder. It’d be a whole lot more unpredictable than your “reality” TV show.