As we all get pulled in so many directions in our daily lives, it\u2019s easy to think that technology is the holy grail, an organizing tool to give our lives direction, to help us multitask, and to connect us to everyone, near and far.<\/p>\n
But\u00a0is that really the case?\u00a0<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve lately been pondering whether many of us are losing track of the need to \u201cstop and smell the roses,\u201d as the clich\u00e9 goes.<\/p>\n
Technology is a wonderful connecting toy, and we have many of those toys to choose from \u2013 desktop and laptop computers, mobile devices, tablets, you name it. Most of us have several of them.<\/p>\n
But what\u2019s happened to the idea of just turning away from all of that and just relishing the time we have with those around us? Or, heaven forbid, just being by ourselves for a while and thinking?<\/p>\n
As part of an interactive-entertainment class that I teach in my digital media courses at UCF, there is a reality-to-virtuality continuum graph that we discuss. The graph demonstrates that our imagination can be stimulated along a range of physical to virtual experiences. Alongside physical things such as theme parks and magic shows, and virtual things such as films, and a mixture of both in “augmented reality,” there is a spot called “lucid dreaming.”<\/p>\n
When students see that, there is invariably a laugh from most and we move on.\u00a0But lucid dreaming may in fact be the most intriguing spot on that continuum.\u00a0For it\u2019s the one spot where we as humans release ourselves from technology, conventions, and social norms \u2013 and just think. We allow our brains to disconnect with deadlines and responsibilities and just take us wherever our imagination leads us.<\/p>\n
So what\u2019s the \u201cmain thing\u201d I mention in my column headline? Well, in my\u00a0mind, it\u2019s remembering that we only go through this life once.\u00a0For every new technology that we get attached to, are we using it to make that one trip through life richer, more meaningful, more important to our journey?\u00a0Not usually.<\/p>\n
Many times, that technology is just used to fill time \u2013 as though we have time to spare, which we don’t. We don\u2019t know how much time we have left in this life, and as the Tim McGraw song says, \u201cLive like you were dying.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
This topic might read to some as slightly morbid;\u00a0it\u2019s not meant to be. I\u2019m an eternal optimist, but I\u2019m increasingly struck by the disconnect I see in restaurants between folks sharing a meal while immersed in their phones rather than really sharing the time together.<\/p>\n
A news program recently reported on a story about a group of young women who agreed to lock away their phones and iPads for two weeks, which nearly devastated them. They described going through withdrawal, feeling like they couldn\u2019t function for several days.<\/p>\n
And then something happened. They started living in the moment, talking to the people they were around at any point in time, really experiencing what was going on in their environment. At the end of the two weeks, they described having made a breakthrough in feeling comfortable in their own skin, being aware of their surroundings in a whole new way, and relishing just talking to friends \u2013 and even strangers if they needed directions.<\/p>\n
So then they were given their phones back, and in 10 seconds, each was busy in their own world with their phone, texting, tweeting, checking in online. Their favorite message: \u201cI\u2019m back!\u201d<\/p>\n
So, how will you change your life and live more in the moment, in the reality of where you are now, and celebrate each step in life\u2019s journey?<\/p>\n