shifting

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Periodically I realize that the quiet life is escaping me. Or rather, I am trying to escape it. I feel the weight of too much television and too many games of Words with Friends. I find myself reaching for my phone as my feet hit the floor in morning, too curious about what transpired in the social media world overnight. And then I realize it's time to take my life back.
We are not, not a single one of us, going to lie on our deathbed and wish we'd spent a little bit more time on Facebook or Instagram or Pinterest.  We are not going to wish we'd answered more emails.  Instead, many of us will deeply regret investing so much online, and so little in the flesh and blood around us.
Sarah's words have made me think. I want to invest more in the flesh and blood around me. I've spent these first months of 2016 reading about loving others and gospel living. Now to live out the lessons I'm learning. I've allowed online discourse to take such precedence in my life that I fear I've forgotten how to engage someone and give them my full attention. I was happy to see that my library has a copy of Reclaiming Conversation: The Power of Talk in a Digital Age, which I promptly added to my reading list.

I want to invest more in others, and also in myself. I removed social media from my phone. I am once again committing to a technology curfew each evening. My brain and my spirit need room to breathe, to mull over, to relax. I do not want to be defined or controlled by a handheld device. I do want to think deeply, converse more, learn more.

Computer and phone screens can act as binoculars, bringing the far-off close and making it appear more significant than it actually is. Certainly binoculars have their use, but keeping them to my eyes all the time has blurred my vision and distorted my perception.  To sharply focus on the close-up of my life requires a shift.


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