Life Beyond A Screen

Don't get me wrong, I'm a slave to social media as much as the next person. I'd say as much as the next 'young person', but my mum is as much hooked onto Facebook as I am - it's stretched to all generations; young and old. Even my grandparents now have smartphones so they can see my Instagram updates while I'm in America! ..and don't get me started on my 10 year old cousins and their square eyes!

Sparked by fairly recent Banksy work of 'Mobile Lovers', and a similar style piece (not confirmed to be Banksy) of a young boy expressing distress over not receiving social media attention and validation through notifications and superficial 'likes', I've been having deep thoughts about life and the Internet. 'Mobile Lovers' really got me and my own 'lover' discussing the topic of using our phones when we're in each other's company and how inappropriately unnecessary it is to be engaged with an iPhone screen and Twitter feed of pointless updates from people I barely even know. Okay, so somebody I had one class with in sixth form is ordering a chinese for their tea, and somebody who lives down the road is going on holiday on 246 days. Somebody I've never even met or spoke to is hungover. Great. Fab. I'm so glad I spent 15 seconds of my life reading that update on my little phone screen. I'd much rather be watching my boyfriend speak to me and tell me about his day so I can read the emotions from his face, rather than his emojis on a screen.

In my Break From Blogging post I shared a couple of the things that I've been up to and how refreshing it's been to take a step back from being engrossed in online updates and social feeds and instead get out and about experiencing different things each day. I've actually been meeting a lot more new people recently and I always find that when you meet somebody new and gain an insight into their life and how they live, it can really open your eyes to new perspectives on life. There's always so much to learn and the best way to learn it is from meeting new people, but meeting them online and chatting via 140 characters isn't always the best way for this to happen. (See the video at the bottom of this post!)

I don't hate technology and I do appreciate instant communication with anybody in the world, but the viral video titled 'Look Up', which is embedded in this post, made me think about trying to detach from the digital world, and fully embrace the life beyond a screen.

Seeing pubs with funny messages outside like 'no wifi in here, talk to each other instead' makes me giggle, but the reality of being in genuine situations surrounded by friends/colleagues with each and every one of them looking down at their phones, scrolling through Facebook, Twitter or Instagram instead of engaging with the real life human that is sitting right next to them, is something that has been rubbing me the wrong way for the past few months. 

“look up from your phone, shut down the display, take in your surroundings and make the most of today”.

If you haven't yet seen this video, or at least seen it recently, then please please watch it. It's 5 minutes long and I can guarantee it will get you thinking about how much you use social media and how much more you should enjoy the world around you. 

Use technology, embrace technology, but don't let it consume you.
♥